Exam 6: The Economics of Collective Decision-Making

When governments become more heavily involved in taxing one group in order to provide benefits to other groups,which of the following will be encouraged?

Senator Spendall is able to use his position on an important committee to set aside government funding specifically for a new bridge in his hometown.This is an example of

Subsidizing coal mining and orange growing have both been found to be economically inefficient in that the costs outweigh the benefits.However,a subsidy on coal mining would help the coal producers in West Virginia and a subsidy on orange growing would help the orange farmers in Florida.So the senator from West Virginia approaches the senator from Florida and says that he will vote for the orange subsidy if the Florida senator votes for the coal-mining subsidy.The Florida senator agrees.Which term best describes what just happened?

Government decisions tend to be biased toward actions that have

When goods are produced privately,but the cost of their purchase is paid for by the taxpayer or some other third party,

In which of the following situations is the political process likely to result in the inefficient and wasteful use of resources?

Senator Dogood is pushing for the construction of a new military base in his state even though,from the standpoint of national security,it is clear that there are better places to locate the new military base.Economic theory would suggest that Senator Dogood is

When analyzing public sector decision making,economic theory assumes voters,politicians,and government officials will

Public choice theory indicates someone who spends more time evaluating which tennis racket to buy than deciding which U.S.Senate candidate to support

When politicians support policies that benefit small interest groups,such as farmers,at the expense of unorganized,widely dispersed groups,for example,taxpayers or consumers,this is a reflection of the

Transfer payments are

The theory of public choice

Economic theory indicates that the behavior of

Which of the following increases the political power of special interest groups and makes counterproductive government action more likely?

Public choice theory assumes each voter will tend to support the political candidate who offers

Which of the following explains why managers of government agencies have little incentive to achieve operational efficiency?

Which of the following provides the most reasonable explanation for why agricultural interests lobby for higher farm subsidies and price supports?

Economics indicates that government funding of special interest projects and favoritism of some business firms relative to others will lead to

Government decisions tend to be biased toward actions that have

In which case is the political process most likely to result in the acceptance of productive programs and rejection of unproductive political activities?