(Table: Changes in the National Debt) (This Question Is for Those

question 1

Essay

(Table: Changes in the National Debt) (This question is for those instructors who have spent some time in class discussing the evolution of the national debt, and the history of the federal budget deficits and surpluses.) The chart (adapted from a chart on Wikipedia developed from the budget for the fiscal 2012 year) shows the change in federal debt by president, and the years of each administration. What helps to explain some of the increase seen in the Reagan years?

---

Definitions:

Edgeworth Box

A diagram used in microeconomics to show the distribution of resources or the outcome of trade between two parties.

Utility Function

An economic tool that describes how consumers rank different bundles of goods according to the level of satisfaction or utility those bundles provide.

Endowed

Provided with a large amount of a particular resource or quality.

Contract Curve

In economics, it represents the set of optimal points of exchange between two parties, where no further mutual benefit can be achieved through trade.