Exam 5: Public Goods, Public Choice, and Government Failure

Assume that Matt, Joe, and Teresa are the only citizens in a community. A proposed public good has a total cost of $1,000. All three citizens will share an equal portion of this cost in taxes. The benefit of the public good is $380 for Matt, $360 for Joe, and $200 for Teresa. In a majority vote, this proposal will most likely be

Refer to the provided supply and demand graph for a public good. If Q₁ units of the public good are produced, then

Assume that Abby, Ben, Clara, Joe, and Matt are the only citizens in a community. A proposed public good has a total cost of $800. All five citizens will share an equal portion of this cost in taxes. The benefit of the public good is $220 to Abby, $210 to Ben, $210 to Clara, $180 to Joe, and $120 to Matt. In a majority vote, this proposal will most likely be

Regulatory capture occurs when government exerts excessive control over an industry.

"Pork-barrel" legislation that contains funding for hundreds of earmarks throughout numerous states often reflects

The paradox of voting is that under majority voting rules, the median voter decides the election outcome.

Answer the question on the basis of the following table that shows the total costs and total benefits facing a city of five different potential baseball stadiums of increasing size. All figures are in millions of dollars. Applying the median-voter model and assuming that there are equal numbers of voters supporting each stadium, we would expect

Some people argue that the three main television networks all have similar programming. If true, this observation might best be explained by the

The "principal-agent problem" often arises in public choice when politicians pursue the best interests of their constituents.

The following data are for a series of increasingly extensive flood-control projects. For Plan D marginal costs and marginal benefits are

The trading of votes to secure favorable outcomes on decisions that would otherwise be defeated is called

In a sporting goods store, you can buy the equipment you want and forgo the rest. But in an election you "buy" the entire range of the candidate's positions, including some you may not agree with. This difference

Inefficiencies associated with majority voting may get resolved through

According to the marginal-cost-marginal-benefit rule,

Suppose lawyers seek legislation to limit the use of computer software that enables people to use their personal computers to self-prepare their own wills, trusts, and other legal documents. This is an example of

Which of the following statements is not true?

Narrow, specifically designated expenditures that are included in more comprehensive legislation are known as

At the optimal quantity of a public good,

In thinking about the "principal-agent problem" in a democratic government, we assign the role of "principal" to the government.

Proponents of deregulation point to all of the following industries as examples of successful deregulation except for