Question

Many government programs have both an efficiency-enhancing function and an equity / redistributive function. Choose any government spending program.

a. Which government spending program did you choose?

b. Describe two ways in which the program you chose enhances efficiency.

c. Describe two ways in which the program you chose redistributes income.

Answer 1

Answer:

1. Government Spending:

Government spending or expenditureincludes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual or collective needs of the community, is classed as government final consumption expenditure. Government acquisition of goods and services intended to create future benefits, such as infrastructure investment or research spending, is classed as government investment (government gross capital formation). These two types of government spending, on final consumption and on gross capital formation, together constitute one of the major components of gross domestic product.

Government spending can be financed by government borrowing, or taxes. Changes in government spending is a major component of fiscal policy used to stabilize the macroeconomic business cycle.

2. Employee Efficiency:

Employee performance is defined as how an employee fulfills their job duties and executes their required tasks. It refers to the effectiveness, quality, and efficiency of their output.

Ways to improve efficiency:

1. Investigate underperformance issues

It’s important to thoroughly understand why an employee might be underperforming. Avoid making assumptions by gathering data and information as well as addressing the person directly.

The employee might be lacking proper resources or maybe wasn’t adequately trained and onboarded from the start. There might be outside influences distracting them from doing their work and they could use some support from HR. It’s possible that the employee lacks clarity about the company goals or doesn’t feel valued or well-supported in their role.

It’s important to understand what the issues are in order to best tackle them and give them a chance for improvement. Trying to cover up issues with “quick-fix” solutions won’t help in the long-run.

2. Training doesn’t end at onboarding

New employees are initially given a lot of attention and direction during their onboarding process. But this should not be the only training that employees receive. Ongoing training is a critical part of keeping employees engaged and motivated to think and work in new ways.

Also, it’s hard to retain so much information when everything is new and overwhelming. Continuous training allows employees to get refreshers and follow-up information in case anything was missed during initial onboarding.

3. Income Redistribution:

Income Redistribution is an economic practice which is aimed at leveling the distribution of wealth or income in a society through a direct or indirect transfer of income from the rich to the poor. Economists or Governments adopt economic policies and strategies like progressive taxation to implement this phenomenon.

Considering the social vices and the cost of extreme poverty or the negative effects an extremely widened income gap can have on a nation, economists across the world try their best to close this gap or maintain a positive difference.

It is important to recognize what Income Redistribution is and what it is not. Many misconstrue Income Redistribution to be same as Redistribution of Wealth.

Wealth redistribution refers to the seizure of assets from the rich in society and distributing them to other poor members of society.

Unlike Wealth Redistribution, Income Redistribution does not take away the hard earned properties of people. Income redistribution uses strategic economic policies to transfer income from the rich to the poor, and it does not involve forceful acquisition of people’s assets.