Govt 350 final exam dr. ferdon
What is the nature and significanceof President Roosevelt's Brain Trust? -
ANS-Members draw mainly from the university's (in particular Colombia University)
Devised measures to be taken after his inauguration that grew into the "New Deal".
Represented a change of intellectual atmosphere leaning towards social responsibility,
and a centralized, powerful government.
What is meant by the policy term 'New Deal' under the Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Administrations? - ANS-Included programs designed to reform the basic structure of the
economy. Included programs such as social security, unemployment insurance, and
public assistance.
What is the basic essence of the phrase 'cradle to grave'? - ANS-The promise of
security from cradle to grave.The understanding the Government will provide
assurances to its constituents in matters of "general welfare" from the point of birth to
time of death.
Given the four spending categories discussed by Friedman, which one results in the
most efficient and wise use of scare resources, such as money, and why? -
ANS-Category I: You are spending your own money on yourself. You shop in a
supermarket, for example. You clearly have a strong incentive to both economize and to
get as much value as you can for each dollar you spend.
What is the fundamental fallacyof the welfare-state? In other words, why do
welfare-state programs fail? - ANS-a. As populations inevitably seize to grow, the
old-to-young ration evens out. There is no longer enough taxable income to provide for
the needs of the recipients. Bureaucracies also unnecessarily bog down agency
efficiency, in lieu of personal affliction and corruption. They also weaken the family;
reduce the incentive to work, save, and innovate; reduce the accumulation of capital;
and limit our freedom.
The emergence of the modern welfare-state, which impacted the move towards
welfare-state programs in America, can be traced to what influences? - ANS-a. Otto von
Bismarck: Germany early 1880's (social security and workers insurance)
b. Great Britain early 1900's: Old Age Pensions Act (1908), National Insurance Act
(1911)
, c. Sweden: Compulsory old-age pensions (1915) as a contributory system. Later
Unemployment insurance and publicization of Industry, public housing, and consumers
cooperatives on a large scale.
What two very contradictory phenomena occurred as a result of New Deal programs? -
ANS-Widespread dissatisfaction with the results of welfare activities; and the continued
pressure for further expansion.
What is the most important component of Social Security? - ANS-Adequate
taxpayer-to-beneficiary ratio???
Friedman proposes six specific measures to 'wind down' Social Security—what are
these? - ANS-a. 1. Repeal immediately the payroll tax.
b. 2. Continue to pay all existing beneficiaries under Social Security the amounts that
they are entitled to under current law.
c. 3. Give every worker who has already earned coverage a claim to those retirement,
disability, and survivors benefits that his tax payments and earnings to date would
entitle him to under current law, reduced by the present value of the reduction in his
future taxes as a result of the repeal of the payroll tax. The worker could choose to take
his benefits in the form of a future annuity or government bonds equal to the present
value of the benefits to which he would be entitled.
d. 4. Give every worker who has not yet earned coverage a capital sum (again in the
form of bonds) equal to the accumulated value of the taxes that he or his employer has
paid on his behalf,
e. 5. Terminate any further accumulation of benefits, allowing individuals to provide for
their own retirement as they wish.
f. 6. Finance payments under items 2, 3, and 4 out of general tax funds plus the
issuance of government bonds.
What exactly is Process Philosophy as to its most basic essence, and its relationship to
the expansivejurisdiction of the national government, and the emergenceof the welfare
state in America? - ANS-a. Reality is now based on that which does change; life is in a
constant state of perpetual flux and phenomenal flow. The ultimate reality is change, not
that which is fixed, or changeless. Life is always in motion, a process of becoming, (not
being) and therefore, truth is always understood as an unfolding process of knowing.
i. Relativism: Nothing is ultimately fixed
ii. Environmentalism: Material Constituency (Environment) is Determinative;
Determinism
iii. Progressivism: Presupposed Progress
iv. Developmentalism: 'Genetic' Method of Progress
What is the nature and significanceof President Roosevelt's Brain Trust? -
ANS-Members draw mainly from the university's (in particular Colombia University)
Devised measures to be taken after his inauguration that grew into the "New Deal".
Represented a change of intellectual atmosphere leaning towards social responsibility,
and a centralized, powerful government.
What is meant by the policy term 'New Deal' under the Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Administrations? - ANS-Included programs designed to reform the basic structure of the
economy. Included programs such as social security, unemployment insurance, and
public assistance.
What is the basic essence of the phrase 'cradle to grave'? - ANS-The promise of
security from cradle to grave.The understanding the Government will provide
assurances to its constituents in matters of "general welfare" from the point of birth to
time of death.
Given the four spending categories discussed by Friedman, which one results in the
most efficient and wise use of scare resources, such as money, and why? -
ANS-Category I: You are spending your own money on yourself. You shop in a
supermarket, for example. You clearly have a strong incentive to both economize and to
get as much value as you can for each dollar you spend.
What is the fundamental fallacyof the welfare-state? In other words, why do
welfare-state programs fail? - ANS-a. As populations inevitably seize to grow, the
old-to-young ration evens out. There is no longer enough taxable income to provide for
the needs of the recipients. Bureaucracies also unnecessarily bog down agency
efficiency, in lieu of personal affliction and corruption. They also weaken the family;
reduce the incentive to work, save, and innovate; reduce the accumulation of capital;
and limit our freedom.
The emergence of the modern welfare-state, which impacted the move towards
welfare-state programs in America, can be traced to what influences? - ANS-a. Otto von
Bismarck: Germany early 1880's (social security and workers insurance)
b. Great Britain early 1900's: Old Age Pensions Act (1908), National Insurance Act
(1911)
, c. Sweden: Compulsory old-age pensions (1915) as a contributory system. Later
Unemployment insurance and publicization of Industry, public housing, and consumers
cooperatives on a large scale.
What two very contradictory phenomena occurred as a result of New Deal programs? -
ANS-Widespread dissatisfaction with the results of welfare activities; and the continued
pressure for further expansion.
What is the most important component of Social Security? - ANS-Adequate
taxpayer-to-beneficiary ratio???
Friedman proposes six specific measures to 'wind down' Social Security—what are
these? - ANS-a. 1. Repeal immediately the payroll tax.
b. 2. Continue to pay all existing beneficiaries under Social Security the amounts that
they are entitled to under current law.
c. 3. Give every worker who has already earned coverage a claim to those retirement,
disability, and survivors benefits that his tax payments and earnings to date would
entitle him to under current law, reduced by the present value of the reduction in his
future taxes as a result of the repeal of the payroll tax. The worker could choose to take
his benefits in the form of a future annuity or government bonds equal to the present
value of the benefits to which he would be entitled.
d. 4. Give every worker who has not yet earned coverage a capital sum (again in the
form of bonds) equal to the accumulated value of the taxes that he or his employer has
paid on his behalf,
e. 5. Terminate any further accumulation of benefits, allowing individuals to provide for
their own retirement as they wish.
f. 6. Finance payments under items 2, 3, and 4 out of general tax funds plus the
issuance of government bonds.
What exactly is Process Philosophy as to its most basic essence, and its relationship to
the expansivejurisdiction of the national government, and the emergenceof the welfare
state in America? - ANS-a. Reality is now based on that which does change; life is in a
constant state of perpetual flux and phenomenal flow. The ultimate reality is change, not
that which is fixed, or changeless. Life is always in motion, a process of becoming, (not
being) and therefore, truth is always understood as an unfolding process of knowing.
i. Relativism: Nothing is ultimately fixed
ii. Environmentalism: Material Constituency (Environment) is Determinative;
Determinism
iii. Progressivism: Presupposed Progress
iv. Developmentalism: 'Genetic' Method of Progress
