Optional Unit 4 Practice FRQ #1

“Going forward, the [Social Security] trust fund surplus will be drawn down as an aging population claims benefits, and as the U.S. fertility rate continues to decline, which means fewer workers are coming along to pay taxes into the system. . . . Some conservative policy analysts point to that payment as evidence that Social Security is a cause of deficits, since the $79 billion payment came from general revenue.”

—Mark Miller, “Social Security and the U.S. Deficit: Separating fact from fiction,” Reuters, November 1, 2018.

Describe the demographic factors that affect Social Security, according to the passage.

Explain how entitlement programs impact the budget deficit.

Explain how tax cuts impact the budget deficit.