1-When political officials are elected democratically, can they be counted on to pursue policies that promote the general welfare of the populace?

2-What is the special interest effect? What does it imply about the efficiency of how goods and services will be allocated through the political process?

3-Visit theFederal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED Database(http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/FYFSD).

Locate the latest budget figure. What is it in billions of dollars?(Note:Be sure to report the Fed's figure inbillionsof dollars. For example: 100,000 million = 100 billion)What does this figure indicate about government revenues and expenditures?

4-Visit the websiteU.S. Debt Clock(opens new window)(plaintextlink:http://www.usdebtclock.org).

What is thenational debtin trillions of dollars?

5-Explain how the budget situation identified inquestion 3impacted the public debt figure inquestion 4.

In other words, what is the difference between the deficit and the debt?How are they related?