Exam 21: Income Inequity and Poverty

Economists who support minimum wage legislation are likely to believe that the: (i) demand for unskilled labour is relatively inelastic (ii) demand for unskilled labour is relatively elastic (iii) supply of unskilled labour is relatively elastic

The increase in women's workforce participation rate over the last 50 years has been more pronounced for higher income groups.This trend has tended to increase inequality.

Out of the following countries, the share of total income going to the poorest fifth of the population is highest in:

Which of the following is a cause of movement of individuals among income classes? (i) hard work (ii) laziness (iii) chance

Suppose the government proposes a negative income tax that calculates taxes owed according to the formula TAXES OWED = (1/2 * INCOME) - 5 000.A family that earns an income of $30 000 will:

Many policies to help the poor are effective at encouraging the poor to escape from poverty.

In Australia, the share of pre-tax income going to the top fifth of families in the income distribution has been:

Robert Nozick criticises Rawls' concept of justice by using an example of:

According to Rawls, principles of justice are the result of:

Do Libertarians and Rawlsian liberals agree that governments should redistribute income? Briefly explain your answer.

In Australia, the share of pre-tax income going to the top fifth of families is roughly ______ times the share of income going to the bottom fifth of families in the income distribution:

Which of the following statements about minimum-wage laws are true? Minimum wages: (i) force a market imbalance between the supply and demand for labour (ii) increase the efficiency of labour markets (iii) are most effective at alleviating poverty when labour demand is highly elastic

Trends over time support the view that the decline of the two-parent family is largely the effect of the welfare system.

Economists refer to the regular pattern of income variation over a person's lifetime as the:

Income inequality in an economy is traditionally measured by:

Explain how a 'leaky bucket' can be used to illustrate the utilitarian argument that complete equalisation of income should not be attempted.

Discuss the permanent income hypothesis of income distribution.

The distortionary effect of government redistribution programs means that perfect utility maximising outcomes are unattainable.

A libertarian is likely to argue that:

Using demand-supply analysis, show why some economists argue that an effective minimum wage will result in higher unemployment among those groups of workers affected by the minimum wage.