How Big is the U.S. Debt? and Social Security

How Big is the U.S. Debt? and Social Security

By Tiffany Dennis

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TIX-DC52as

Multiple Choice

1. The U.S. government debt _______________________.

• is not significant since we owe the money to ourselves

• is the difference between federal expenditures and federal revenue in a single year

• does not matter because the government can pay it off at any time it chooses

• totaled $19 trillion at the end of 2015

Multiple Choice

2. If the total value of U.S. government assets is $3 trillion, then _______________________.

• selling all the property the federal government owns would do little to erase the national debt

• the government can sell that property and print the rest of the money owed. Problem solved

• the government can borrow $3 trillion and use the property it owns as collateral

• there really is no problem

Multiple Choice

3. _______________________ include Social Security and Medicare payments that the government has promised to people but does not have the money to pay.

• Unfunded loans

• Unfunded revenue

• Unfunded mandates

• Unfunded obligations

Multiple Choice

4. The $90 trillion that the U.S. owes or has promised to pay is _______________________.

• more than the economic output of the entire planet

• easily raised by increasing taxes on the top one percent of earners

• not a big concern. If it were, it would be in the news

• shrinking each year as the government has begun to pay it off

Multiple Choice

5. The main point of this video is that _______________________.

• some people worry so much about minor concerns they make them seem like major concerns

• the U.S. government debt is a staggering amount and growing rapidly

• despite the amount of money the U.S. government owes, it can easily pay that off

• government debt can be paid off without harming the economy simply by printing more money

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGbs9QC1eME&ab_channel=StosselClassroomDVDs

Multiple Choice

1. The initial purpose of the Social Security program was to _______________________.

• encourage workers to save for their retirement

• financially protect workers who lived beyond 65 years of age

• prevent workers from working past 65 years of age

• encourage older workers to retire earlier to create job openings for younger workers

Multiple Choice

2. When Social Security began, politicians assumed there would be enough _______________________ to fund the program.

• younger workers

• workers living longer than 65 years of age

• large corporations and small businesses

• stock market growth

Multiple Choice

3. The increase in life expectancy and slowed growth in the number of younger workers will lead to a depletion of funds from the Social Security program. One solution, proposed by the Heritage Foundation, will _______________________.

• start a new program that requires employers to establish pensions for their retiring workers

• increase the retirement age to 70 and cut Social Security payments to wealthy individuals

• lower the age at which people can start working

• ban individuals from retiring at 65 years of age

Multiple Choice

4. Another proposal by the Heritage Foundation and others is to _______________________.

• allow workers to put a portion of their Social Security funds into personal retirement accounts

• increase the Social Security taxes current workers pay

• penalize individuals who do not put any money into the Social Security program

• eliminate the Social Security program and refund the money to those who paid in

Multiple Choice

5. The main point of this video is that _______________________.

• the United States government will always help citizens by saving for their future

• free markets do not protect individuals like government does

• at the current rate, Social Security funds will eventually run out if nothing is done to fix it

• people are getting lazy and do not want to work to 65