2. Suppose the national debt is $80 trillion and the government spends $800 billion during the fiscal year on goods and services. In addition, the government collects tax revenues of $600 billion and makes transfer payments equal to $300 billion. Assume the economy is producing at the potential or full employment output level. The budget balance for this economy is equal to $________ billion and the national debt is $ _________ trillion.

600-800-300=-500 Billion this is the budget balance, I can't figure out how to get the national debt. I thought it was 80 trillion but it is not, please help!

To calculate the budget balance, we subtract government spending from tax revenues and add transfer payments. In this case:

Tax Revenues = $600 billion
Government Spending on Goods and Services = $800 billion
Transfer Payments = $300 billion

Budget Balance = Tax Revenues - Government Spending - Transfer Payments
Budget Balance = $600 billion - $800 billion - $300 billion
Budget Balance = -$500 billion

So, you were correct in calculating the budget balance as -$500 billion.

Now, to find the national debt, we need to know more information. The national debt is the cumulative total of all the budget deficits and surpluses over time. It includes the current year's budget deficit or surplus as well as the previous years' budget deficits or surpluses.

In this given scenario, you mentioned that the national debt is $80 trillion. However, based on the information provided, we do not have enough information to accurately determine the national debt. We only have a snapshot of the current fiscal year's budget balance, but we would need historical data to determine the national debt accurately.

Therefore, we cannot determine the national debt from the provided information alone.