A country that imports a substantial amount of gasoline every year imposed a $1.2 per gallon excise tax on gasoline, to be paid by sellers. The equilibrium price of gasoline prior to the tax was $4 per gallon. Gasoline being a necessary good, its demand curve is steep and the consumers had to bear the bulk of the tax burden. The post-tax price of gasoline went up to $5 per gallon, causing the country's media to claim that it was unfair that people should have to pay so high a price for such an important consumption item. They further believed that such a high tax was inefficient and could not be justified.
Which of the following, if true, would support the media's claim about the tax being inefficient?
A country that imports a substantial amount of gasoline every year imposed a $1.2 per gallon excise tax on gasoline, to be paid by sellers. The equilibrium price of gasoline prior to the tax was $4 per gallon. Gasoline being a necessary good, its demand curve is steep and the consumers had to bear the bulk of the tax burden. The post-tax price of gasoline went up to $5 per gallon, causing the country's media to claim that it was unfair that people should have to pay so high a price for such an important consumption item. They further believed that such a high tax was inefficient and could not be justified.
Which of the following, if true, would support the media's claim about the tax being inefficient?
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