Answer: c. tax increase of some amount less than $45 billion
Explanation:
Increasing taxes will have the effect of reducing the Consumption in the Economy as it will reduce the disposable income that people have to spend on goods and services. It is therefore an option to bring the Economy back down to fill employment.
However, when the Taxes are increased, they should be increased by an amount less than the $45 billion because Taxes have a Multiplier effect meaning that an increase in taxes will slow down the economy more than the increase itself. This is why it should be an amount less than 45 billion especially having taken the Multiplier into account so that a good estimate of the amount needed will be ascertained.