EC120 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Pigovian Tax, System On A Chip, Demand Curve

1. Economists are particularly adept at understanding that people respond to

a. laws.

b. incentives

c. punishments more than rewards.

d. rewards more than punishments.

2. Government policies can change the costs and benefits that people face. Those policies have the potential to

a. alter people's behaviour.

b. alter people's decisions at the margin.

c. produce results that policymakers did not intend.

d. All of the above are correct.

3. Penny is a piano teacher and Dan is a tile layer. If Penny teaches Dan's daughter to play the piano in exchange for Dan tiling her kitchen floor,

a. only Penny is made better off by trade.

b. only Dan is made better off by trade.

c. both Penny and Dan are made better off by trade.

d. neither Penny nor Dan are made better off by trade.

4. The basic principles of economics suggest that

a. markets are seldom if ever, a good way to organize economic activity

b. government should become involved in markets when trade between countries is involved.

c. government should become involved in markets when those markets fail to produce efficient or fair outcomes.

d. All of the above are correct.

Purpose of Assignment

In Week 2, students will employ the supply and demand model to develop consumer surplus and producer surplus as a measure of welfare and market efficiency. Students learn about welfare economics--the study of how the allocation of resources affects economic well-being--and will discover that under most circumstances, the equilibrium price and quantity is also the one that maximizes welfare. Students will review different sources of externalities and a variety of potential cures and will see that while markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity, governments can sometimes improve market outcomes. Students will see how the U.S. government raises and spends money and the difficulty of making a tax system both efficient and equitable.

Assignment Steps

Scenario: Imagine you have been assigned the responsibility of preparing a paper for the governor's next economic conference.

Prepare a 1,050-word paper addressing the following:

Explain why equilibrium of supply and demand is desirable.

Explain the following concepts using the concept of consumer and producer surplus:

Efficiency of markets

Costs of taxation

Benefits of international trade

Discuss how externalities may prevent market equilibrium and the various government policies used to remedy the inefficiencies in markets caused by externalities.

Analyze the difference between the efficiency of a tax system and the equity of a tax system as it refers to the costs imposed on taxpayers using the benefits principles.

Cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed sources, not including your textbook.

Format consistent with APA guidelines.