Thirty state legislatures have now approved, and more are considering, resolutions petitioning for a constitutional convention that would require a balanced federal budget on a fiscal year basis. The U.S. Congress is also considering a similar resolution and appears mindful, especially in deliberations on President Reagan’s proposed tax and budget cuts, of widespread public demand to eliminate federal government deficits.
In ancient times, the Delphic oracle was renowned for providing cryptic, often meaningless, answers to important questions. In recent times, this Delphic tradition has seemingly inspired much of the popular discussion about the causes and consequences of interest rate movements.
In the winter of 1973-74, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quadrupled the price of oil from $3 a barrel to about $12 a barrel, a fourfold increase that, along with a marked slowing of money growth, precipitated one of the longest and deepest postwar declines in economic activity in most industrial nations.
Gross national product (GNP) is the market value of goods and services produced by labor and property supplied by residents of a country before the deduction of depreciation charges for capital goods. This measure is widely accepted as the most comprehensive measure of national economic activity.
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