Exam 21: Political Economy and Public Choice

Why do people tend to be rationally ignorant about presidential candidates?

Use the following to answer questions Figure: Smoking Ban Policy Spectrum -(Figure: Smoking Ban Policy Spectrum)Refer to the figure.If A,B,and C are all candidates in the election,and a smoking ban is the only issue being debated,based on the median voter theorem which candidate will win the election?

When government makes it possible to push the costs of a good onto other people we get too much of the good.

The median voter theorem says that candidates whose policy is closest to the middle of the spectrum will win.

Most voters will tend to be concerned with:

According to the median voter theorem,what percentage of the tax dollars will be spent on the military under the following conditions: 25% of voters want to spend 20% of their tax dollars on the military; 20% of voters want to spend 15% of their tax dollars on the military; 15% of voters want to spend 10% of their tax dollars on the military;and 10% of voters want to spend 5% of the tax dollars on the military;while 30% of voters do not want to spend any tax dollars on the military.

When the costs of a good are paid for by nonconsumers,______ of the good is produced.

The greater the share of the population that is brought into power,the:

Private choice is the study of political behavior using the tools of economics.

If a policy transfers $100 to a special interest group at a cost of $4,000 to society,the group would lobby:

Why are special interest groups so powerful?

When a policy is specialized in its impact,difficult to understand,and affects a small part of the country,it is more likely that:

An incumbent is more likely to win reelection if average unemployment during his first four-year term is less than unemployment in the last year of that term.

Suppose that a special interest group makes up 1% of society,and a proposed law would give them $10,000 of benefits but cost society $900,000.The special interest group will oppose this policy because the costs exceed the benefits.

Special interest groups have an incentive to be:

In 2011,police in Appleton,WI,shut down a lemonade stand run by two young girls.The girls,who live near the venue for the annual Appleton Old Car Show,were subject to a recent ordinance that barred anyone from selling products within a two-block radius from local events.Local Alderman Peter Stueck defended the law,saying,"It's certainly not that Appleton is against little girls setting up their cookie and lemonade stands.But the overall intent of the ordinance was to protect the vendors at these events." Which concept best explains why this law had support to begin with?

Sugar consumers likely won't do much to oppose a law that reduces the supply of sugar and raises prices.

Which of the following theories works to explain which voters will get their way in a democratic election?

When a policy is highly visible,appears often in the newspapers,and has a major effect on the lives of millions of Americans,lobbies and special interests very often get their way.

Use the following to answer questions Figure: Kidney Trade Ban Policy Spectrum -(Figure: Kidney Trade Ban Policy Spectrum)Refer to the figure.If there are only two candidates,A and B,and an open market for kidney trading is the only issue being debated in this election,which one of the voters is the median voter?