Try your hand at stabilizing the U.S. debt by using Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget Simulation at http://crfb.org/stabilizethedebt/. Read through the “Intro” and click “Next” in order to follow the simulation instructions. Answer the following questions once you have completed the simulation:
- Were you successful in stabilizing the U.S. debt? If not, how much of a deficit or surplus did you end up with? What does this exercise tell you about the process of creating a budget plan?
- Reexamine the budget cuts or increases you made. What problems would such changes pose for a politician facing reelection?
- This budget simulator allows you only to change spending and tax expenditures over a one-year period. This poses what problems to finding a realistic economic solution?
