How should the U.S. government carry out its economic roles?
When you woke up this morning. did you think to yourself. “What is the government going to do for me today?” Probably not. If you are like most high school students. you probably did not think about the government at all this morning. But the government was there. The time log that follows will give you an idea of just how involved the government is in our everyday lives.
6:30 am The clock radio comes on-too early. as always. As you slowly wake up, a song ends and you hear the news begin. “The government has just announced new regulations:‘ the reporter says, “to protect investors against phishing. a form of email fraud.”
6:45 am By the time you are up and dressed. the news is over and the radio is back to music. The music comes through loud and clear. thanks largely to a government agency that assigns a separate frequency to each radio station. Otherwise a competing broadcaster using the exact same spot on the radio dial might drown out your station.
6:50 am Still bleary eyed. you stumble into the kitchen to fix breakfast. You put water on to boil while you scramble a couple of eggs. The government is right beside you as you cook. The water that flows from the tap has been analyzed by your local water department to be sure it is safe to drink. Government inspectors made sure the eggs were produced and packaged in a way designed to minimize the presence of harmful bacteria.
7:00 am Your grandmother joins you at the kitchen table with the morning paper. She shows you an article announcing an increase in Social Security benefits due to rising living costs. Her pension from the federal government will go up starting next month.
7:06 am As you wait for the school bus, you notice that some potholes in the road have been filled. A paving company hired by the state government has been busy making street repairs.
7:10 am Your bus finally arrives. It is very quiet, and it does not smell of diesel fumes. Your local school district has invested in several battery-powered school buses, and you are lucky enough to ride in one.
7:30 am You reach your destination, a public high school funded by your national, state, and local governments. Governments support public education in part because an educated workforce is key to a productive economy.
Your morning has barely begun, and yet government at every level has already provided you with a multitude of services. In this chapter, you will learn more about the widely accepted roles that the government plays in our market-based economy. You will also explore how the government‘s intervention affects your life and the lives of all Americans.