a. Cyclically balanced budget
b. Annually balanced budget
c. Functional finance
d. Annually balanced budget
e. Functional finance
Cyclically balanced budget is one which is balanced over a business cycle instead of yearly. Such a budget makes sure that the needs of economy are met during various stages of business cycle. When the economy is on a stage of growth, or a boom, a cyclically balanced budget would increase taxes and reduce spending so that the aggregate demand stays low.
Until the Great Depression, budget was balanced each year, which is characterised by increased taxation and spending cuts by the government. Both of this forced the economy into a worse state during the Great Depression. During recession and depression, the economy needs to be stimulated and money should be injected, both of which cannot be done through a balanced budget.
Functional finance puts greater emphasis on the effects of government spending and taxation instead of the concept of balanced budget. Such fiscal policy measures can improve various factors like unemployment and public good availability by focusing on these factors through various policies. Unemployment can only be rectified through greater spending and reduced taxation, which is possible through functional finance
During a recession, the economy is at a stage of negative growth. The only policy response that can improve such a situation is by injecting more money into the economy and by stimulating aggregate demand. But through an annually balanced budget, the emphasis is on keeping the revenue and expenditure equal, which means greater taxation and spending cuts. This can worsen a recession.
In case of functional finance, more emphasis is placed on the effect certain policies can have on the economy. It boosts employment and other factors. But at the same time, it does not take into consideration the impact of the fiscal policy measures on the business cycle.
Until the 1930s, conventional wisdom held that the federal government should have a balanced budget each year, meaning that expenditures would equal revenue and no more for each fiscal year. However, the coming of the Great Depression, which brought a drastic increase in expenditure alongside an increase in spending, showed how this approach would only worsen the situation during times of recession and another approach would be needed.
A cyclically balanced budget does not seek to balance the budget each year, but rather keep it balanced along with the business cycle. The goal here is to decrease spending and increase taxes during economic expansions as a way to soften the blow, or even create a surplus, in preparation for the inevitable contraction of the economy.
The functional finance approach argues that policy makers should focus on providing the public with the goods and services they demand and ignore the business cycle while focusing on maintaining employment. A budget deficit or surplus is of secondary concern to adherents of this approach.
