National debt of United States of America: A Research Plan

National debt of United States of America: A Research Plan

Introduction

National debt in the US has been a pertinent issue receiving mixed reactions from different quotas as the country has debt over 90% levels. This paper is a research plan on carrying out a study that focuses on the national debt in the US. This paper contains Parts 1 and 2. Part 1 of the paper will give the methodologies that will be used in conducting the research based on the expectations. Part of the paper will focus on the findings made with reference to the prior stated objectives. Thereafter, a conclusion n will be given based on the information gathered, and this will guide on the next direction that the research will take.

Part 1: National Debt Crisis: Insight and Methodology

The national debt is the sum owed by the federal government (Amadeo), and in the US it is made up of debt held by the public at 75%, e.g., investors holding treasury securities and debt held by government accounts, e.g., federal government holding treasury securities (Xu, Suk & Hassan 70). The big question is the sustainability of the country’s fiscal policies (Xu, Suk & Hassan 72) as huge deficit budgets as well as debt increases (Amadeo). According to Amadeo, the US currently has debt levels above 90%, and this is a situation that the government has never dealt with before making the situation very uncertain. Xu, Suk, and Hassan (69) state how it’s a big concern that the government is spending over 20% of the country’s GDP, unlike in the past, where it averaged 9%.The government is, therefore, looking at options for cutting on entitle programs and increase receipt through tax.  Xu, Suk, and Hassan (70) gives an insight on who owns US debt including social security fund (16%), other federal governments (13%), federal reserve (12%), China (8%), Japan (7%) mutual funds (6% and state and local governments (3%). This study is important because it sets out to establish the following research objectives.

1. Evaluate the factors increasing government spending
2. The effect of national debt on economic growth.
3. The influence of national debt on the Gross Domestic Product

The study will employ archival research, which is the collection of data from existing written materials. Ventresca and Mohr (2) state that historical documents are “created at some point in the relatively distant past, providing us access that we might not otherwise have to the organizations, individuals, and events of that earlier time.” Documents subjected to archival research can be more or less formal but are subjected to systematic analysis. According to Jermier and Barley, “archival materials provide unobtrusive measures of the process for the study of contemporary organizations” (Ventresca & Mohr 4) because they give accurate information on past events and can be used strategically. Studies on the economy are strategic and relevant to the time factor. Amadeo states how the GITD report looks at the yearly growth against debt levels with time being held constant. This raises more questions as to whether studies pertaining to the economy should be done keeping time constant. Archival research will be able to capture the changing times in the economy of the US as a product of the country dictated by the governance of an institution. According to L’Eplattenier (68), documents written by government are more valid and reliable as the authority is highly credible with a focus on specific jurisdiction. More reference will also be made to large reputable institutions used by others for benchmarking, e.g. large companies representing specific industries. Interestingly, a report on “Growth in a Time of Depth” (GITD) has received attention by research finding that there is no relationship between growth and debt when the level of depth is low or moderate.

Ventresca and Mohr (4) cite how Zald points out, researches that lead to branching points or path tendencies can utilize archival research more effectively. The study of the national debt in the US tends to give the developments that have taken place over time with both positive and negative impacts on the economy, which is constitutes a number of variables. In addition, these variables, many variables react with each other to affect socio-economic development.

Part 2: Findings and Further Research

The study has found that the major causes of national debt include federal budget deficits, Loans from other countries, Security Social Trust Fund, low-interest rates, and the debt ceiling (Amadeo). Collectively these issues affect economic growth at different rates. Similarly, ballooning federal government debts eat into the GDP, leaving less for the government to spend for growth.

For more comprehensive findings, it will be vital that the study introduces another data collection method, preferably an interview. This is because archival research is secondary in nature, and the historical documents used are reports skewed towards the research objective they are based on. L’Eplattenier (68) states how much for an interpretation, archived documents can either be partial or contradictory evidence. L’Eplattenier (67) highlights how archives material may have some missing information, may reflect on the view of the author, or biased to the recipient’s perceptions.  Interviews will, therefore, provide first-hand information with questions being open-ended to allow the researcher to collect in-depth information. Similarly, interviews will enable clarifications to be made, with more of the respondents being key players in matters of fiscal policy as they are engaged in decision making within structures directly affected by the national debt. Data collected from interviews will, therefore, be more reliable and accurate, and the archival research will complement the interview by assuming a confirmatory role.

To further improve on the archive research methodology, the study will employ what Ventresca and Mohr (6) refer to as the “new traditional archival research based on ecological analysis,” where small amounts of information from the archives of numerous entities are designed to give a complete framework of finding thus making conclusion from a number of occurrences. The debt issue in the US is a national matter that whose consequences are felt in industries, firms, internal and foreign trade, and citizens, and so on. Recommendations from such studies are of more value, and as stated by L’Eplattenier (69), categories or classes are generated from the ecological approach, and this will guide on a new research objective which is to determine the solutions for the national debt crisis. The study also realized am interesting finding from research and will seek to prove or disapprove the null hypothesis that ‘There is no significant relationship between debt and growth when the level of debt is low.’

Conclusion

In conclusion, the national debt of the US is at a crisis with the first time hitting over 90% level. The research will integrate both ecological approach archive and interview methodologies for more reliable and valid data. In addition to the stated research objectives, the study will introduce a new hypothesis to establish whether there is no link between low debt level and growth.

Work Cited:

Amadeo, Kimberly “The National Debt and How it Affects You”, The Balance. 2020. 5 March 2020.

L’Eplattenier, Barbara E. “An argument for archival research methods: thinking beyond methodology.” College English 72.1 (2009): 67-79.

Ventresca, Marc J., and John W. Mohr. “Archival research methods.” The Blackwell companion to organizations (2017): 805-828.

Xu, Min, Suk Hi Kim, and Hassan Moussawi. “The US Government Debt: Consequences, Causes, and Solutions.” Journal of Applied Business and Economics 18.1 (2016).