Gerhardt PLSC / ECO 2320 Spring 2001

STUDY / DISCUSSION QUESTIONS – WEEK 9

9.1What are the principal goals of economic policy? Give examples of significant tradeoffs to be considered in pursuing these goals.

9.2What are the principal instruments of economic policy? What governmental institutions play important roles in shaping these instruments? How does the relative influence of each player vary in respect to shaping each instrument?

9.3What interest groups exercise significant influence in shaping economic policy?

9.4Compare the relative importance of the following revenue sources in the U.S.: personal income tax, corporate income tax, employees’ Social Security, employers’ Social Security, general consumption tax, customs.

9.5What is a “tax expenditure? Why is this such a popular form of government policy? What are the redistributive effects of tax expenditures?

9.6What are the important relationships among access to medical care and the costs and quality of that care?

9.7What are the principal sources of third-party payments for medical care?

9.8What are the principal alternative approaches to health-care financing reform that have been seriously considered in the past ten years?

SEE P.2 FOR QUESTIONS 9.9-9.11

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9.9Describe the distribution of incomes in the U.S. in the 1990s. How does this compare with income distributions in other industrialized countries? With U.S. income distribution in earlier post-WWII decades? With the distribution of wealth in the U.S.?

9.10What is the incidence of poverty in the U.S.? How is it measured? What are the ten states with the highest poverty rates? With the lowest rates?

9.11Describe the principal characteristics of each of the following elements of U.S. federal government income security programs. Which of these are social insurance programs? Which are means-tested programs? How would you rank these programs according to the degree of public controversy over them? What are the principal criticisms of, and reform proposals for, each of the foregoing programs?

purpose /

organization

/ annual $ / persons assisted
Social Security
Medicare
Medicaid
Unemployment insurance
PRWORA
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
Food stamps
Other programs