Deck 1: Introduction

Question 1

Taxes

A) are mandatory payments.
B) are necessary for financing government expenditures.
C) do not directly relate to the benefit of government goods and services received.
D) all of these answer options are correct.

Answer 1

all of these answer options are correct.

Question 2

Government output is hard to account for because government

A) is so large.
B) provides goods that have no resale value.
C) keeps secrets about what it produces.
D) goods are generally not sold or produced in easily measurable units.

Answer 2

goods are generally not sold or produced in easily measurable units.

Question 3

A government good or service includes

A) bridges.
B) parks.
C) national defense.
D) all of these answer options are correct.

Answer 3

all of these answer options are correct.

Question 4

Economists who study the role of government in the market

A) agree mostly on the role that the government should play.
B) study for market problems that the government might help solve.
C) find that supply and demand graphs never work for the government.
D) none of these answer options are correct.

Question 5

In 2012 the federal budget was almost

A) 1 million pages long.
B) 17 pages long.
C) 1,300 pages long.
D) 500 pages long.

Question 6

The Constitution of the United States says nothing about state economic activity.

A) True
B) False
C) Uncertain

Question 7

The federal government gets most of its revenue from

A) personal income taxes.
B) property taxes.
C) sales taxes.
D) payroll taxes.

Question 8

Economics

A) started as a business application.
B) can never be defined.
C) is the study of unlimited wants but limited resources.
D) has no "real world" relevance.

Question 9

A regulatory budget would

A) provide an accounting of government regulation.
B) be difficult to compute.
C) have to be attempted unofficially.
D) all of these answer options are correct.

Question 10

The unified budget is

A) a budget that includes all nations.
B) a document which itemizes all the federal government's expenditures and revenues.
C) a document that accounts for all spending by states.
D) none of these answer options are correct.

Question 11

State and local governments receive the largest amount of revenue from

A) personal income taxes.
B) property taxes.
C) sales taxes.
D) payroll taxes.

Question 12

In a pure market economy,

A) there is no role for government.
B) government intervention might be needed.
C) large markets where people meet to buy and sell are required.
D) all of these answer options are correct.

Question 13

A very small portion of government expenditures is financed by taxes.

A) True
B) False
C) Uncertain

Question 14

In 2011 national defense was just as large a general expenditure as Social Security.

A) True
B) False
C) Uncertain

Question 15

Individuals

A) are too small to matter in macroeconomic decision making.
B) need to participate in a democracy.
C) make up the government.
D) are too small to matter in macroeconomic decision making and need to participate in a democracy.
E) need to participate in a democracy and make up the government.

Question 16

The federal government

A) is the largest taxing entity in the country.
B) is only concerned with international issues.
C) spends heavily on net interest.
D) all of these answer options are correct.

Question 17

Social insurance has become an increasingly large portion of federal taxes because of the "Baby Boomer" generation.

A) True
B) False
C) Uncertain

Question 18

Politics

A) play no role in public finance.
B) influence government decisions.
C) have to be factored into economic decision making.
D) all of these answer options are correct.

Question 19

Education is

A) generally financed at the state and local level.
B) too expensive for the federal government.
C) generally financed at the federal level.
D) financed on a voluntary basis.

Question 20

Public finance

A) is not like public economics.
B) develops principles for understanding the economic role of government.
C) only works for local and state governments.
D) all of these answer options are correct.

Question 21

The taxes paid by citizens are directly related to the benefit of government goods and services received.

A) True
B) False
C) Uncertain

Question 22

Personal income and Social Security payroll taxes are currently the largest sources of government revenue.

A) True
B) False
C) Uncertain

Question 23

Do you think it is correct policy that the federal government is not required to finance all of its expenditures with tax revenues and is allowed to borrow? What are the implications of this policy?

Question 24

Local governments rely heavily on property taxes.

A) True
B) False
C) Uncertain

Question 25

In 2011 the federal government spent 345.8 billion dollars on income security.

A) True
B) False
C) Uncertain

Question 26

Government is designed to handle problems not addressed by the private sector.

A) True
B) False
C) Uncertain

Question 27

Interest on the national debt,as a percentage of federal expenditures,has increased significantly since 1965.

A) True
B) False
C) Uncertain

Question 28

Payroll taxes are a major financing tool at the federal level.

A) True
B) False
C) Uncertain

Question 29

Write an essay discussing some of the reasons that federal expenditures for Social Security have increased since 1965.

Question 30

Why do/should we care that federal expenditures are becoming an increasingly larger portion of GDP?

Question 31

Expenditures,as a percentage of GDP for the United States,are not very different than those of other industrialized nations.

A) True
B) False
C) Uncertain

Question 32

Discuss your views on government intervention regarding tobacco consumption.