(annual budget)
Use what you already know about a household budget to help you answer some of the questions below.
1. What sources of income do you think the government has?
2. How much money do you think the government took in last year?
3. What expenses do you think the government has (try to come up with 10-12 items)?
4. Of the expenses listed in #3, which do you think are fixed expenses?
5. Of the expenses listed in #3, which do you think are discretionary expenses?
6. What unexpected expenses do you think that the government may have in a given year? How might the government pay for these expenses?
7. What might the government do to increase its income (resulting in a larger "pie")?
8. What things happening in the economy might increase the government's income? What things might decrease the government's income? (Hint: consider unemployment and it's effect on the government's income.)