Making Sen$e with Paul Solman
America's Historical Struggle With Debt and the Role of Federal Government
Between paying now or paying later, Americans have just about always preferred debt to taxes. Paul Solman talks to Simon Johnson of the MIT Sloan School of Management about his new book "White House Burning," which chronicles the history -- including the whys and whererfores, virtues and vices -- of U.S. debt.
This video is from the Making Sen$e with Paul Solman video series from PBS. Learn more about these videos and view a listing of the most recent videos we have available.
Key Concepts
Aggregate Demand (AD), Budget Deficit, National Debt, Fiscal Policy, Business Cycles, Keynesian Theory, Demand-Pull Inflation
OTHER RELATED LESSONS
Students will visit “A Citizen’s Guide to the Federal Budget,” and use the federal government web site to obtain information which will help them understand basic information about the budget of the United States Government for the current fiscal year.
Grades 9-12
This lesson defines and compares the National Debt with the National Deficit. Students will discover the differences between the two and look at current trends. Students will examine the amount of per-capita debt and be exposed to the reality of the amount the national debt is increasing every d...
Grades 9-12
This lesson focuses on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and rate of inflation reported April 16, 2013, by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for the month of March, 2013. Students read the BLS report, analyze the meaning of the CPI data, determine the change in consumer prices, and explore t...
Grades 9-12
This lesson will take students through the series of tax acts that were enacted by the British government and disputed by the original 13 colonies of America prior to the American Revolution. Students will discuss the concept of government-provided services in exchange for taxes. Students w...
Grades 3-5, 6-8
This lesson helps students understand the basic services provided for Americans in the United States Constitution and the necessity of a system of taxation to fund those services. Students will debate the pros and cons of having governments fund and provide particular services.
Grades 6-8, 9-12
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