Category: Income Inequality

The poverty trap refers to ?

A. a situation in which those receiving state benefits may be almost no better off if they choose to work more to earn more income for themselves and their families because doing so will mean they have to pay back the benefits they have previously received
B. a situation in which workers are unable to find jobs.
C. a situation in which those receiving state benefits may be almost no better off if they choose to work more to earn more because doing so will reduce the amount of benefit income to which they are entitled and increase the amount to tax
D. a situation in which those receiving state benefits are discriminated against by employers and so find it more difficult to find jobs.

A Gini coefficient of one means that ?

A. all the income is received by the top 20% of the income distribution
B. income is distributed equally
C. the income is split equally between the top 20% and the rest of the distribution.
D. one family has all the income and every one else has nothing.

Horizontal equity holds that ?

A. those with equal ability to pay should bear unequal tax burdends.
B. those who benefits the most from government services should bear the higher tax burden.
C. those who benefit the most from government services should have the greatest voice in determining what gets produced
D. those with equal ability to pay should bear equal tax burdens.

Permanent income is ?

A. Social Security income of the elderly and disabled
B. none of these answers
C. wages fixed by a union or other labour contract
D. equal to the minimum wage
E. a person’s normal or average income

New technology in the form of computer spreadsheets has increased the productivity of accountants. This will cause ?

A. the demand curve for accountants to shift to the right, since the productivity of accountants has increased
B. firms to move up their demand curves for accountants
C. the demand curve for accountants to shift to the left, since it requires fewer accountants than it did before to do the same amount of work.
D. firms to move down their demand curves for accountants

If labour market discrimination crowds women into a limited number of occupations so that the number of occupations available to men increases, then ?

A. wages of men will be higher but the marginal productivity of men will be lower than it otherwise would be
B. the wages of men will be lower but the marginal productivity of men will be higher than it otherwise would be
C. both the wages and the marginal productivity of men will be lower than they otherwise would be
D. both the wages and the marginal productivity of men will be higher than they otherwise would be

Vertical equity holds that ?

A. those will equal ability to pay should bear equal tax burdens.
B. those who benefit the most from government service should bear the higher tax burden
C. those with equal ability to pay should bear unequal burdens
D. those with greater ability to pay should pay more