The Economic Implications of Fiscal Deficits: Analyzing Expansionary
Policies, Debt Impact, and Long-Term Growth Strategies
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Professor:
University attached:
Date:
Discuss the impact of expansionary fiscal and monetary policies on government fiscal
deficits. How do these policies influence inflation, unemployment, and GDP growth in both
the short and long run? Use theoretical frameworks such as the Phillips Curve, Okun’s Law,
and Keynesian economics to explain your answer. Additionally, consider the potential
consequences of sustained fiscal deficits on long-term economic growth, with reference to
empirical studies and real-world examples from countries like the U.S. and European
nations. Finally, propose alternative policy measures that could mitigate the negative
effects of fiscal deficits while promoting long-term growth.
Word count requirement:
2500-3000 words.

PART 1:
Maintaining a low level of unemployment as well as a low inflation rate are part of the
dual mandate of the FED. The possibility of having low inflation and low unemployment is
given by the Philips curve – it provides policy makers with a tradeoff between inflation and
unemployment in the short run. A government can keep unemployment under check and allow
inflation OR it can keep prices under check without being able to control unemployment. This
tradeoff is shown as a negative relation between inflation and unemployment. In the long run the
curve is vertical at natural rate of unemployment, so that there government has no control over
unemployment, it can only manipulate the inflation rate.
As given, unemployment rate is very high while inflation rate is at acceptable level of 2%.
This requires expansionary fiscal policies that include an increase in government expenditure on
goods and services or a substantial reduction in tax rates. The primary impact of this policy is the
rise in budget deficit ( G-T). monetary policy can also be used to raise money supply so that
consumption and investment spending is not constrained by lack of money. The use of lowering
FED rate, and open market purchases of securities are common tools of an expansionary
monetary policy. These actions often lead to inflation as the aggregate supply fails to keep p with

rise in demand due to easily available money. But any such fiscal policy will also increase
inflation at the same time.
Okun’s law gives the negative relation between the growth rate of GDP and that of
unemployment and explains the short run Phillips curve. According to the law, a 1% increase in
unemployment will roughly result in a 2% reduction in the nation’s output. Thus, through
government’s expansionary fiscal policy, as the output level will increase, the unemployment
level is likely to fall. In the short run the unemployment rate can be reduced below the natural
rate of unemployment through continuous expansionary policies but in the long term the natural
rate will restored.
In an open economy another policy solution is to use the exchange rate to avoid price inflation. It
has been observed that countries with a currency value relatively higher as compared to other
countries are less likely to suffer from inflationary pressures. The possible reasons could be a
check on their exports due to their high pricing. Thus due to limited demand their export
revenues will remain low. This indirectly acts as a check on the purchasing power of the people
and hence controls inflationary pressures. This is less likely to be used as a sole policy measure
to curtail inflation due to its other expected adverse consequences.
PART 2
This essay is organized along the following lines. We take out cue from part 1 outlined
above to examine how the actions by the FED and/or President affect the level of deficit. The

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