Chapter 30: Income, Poverty, and Health Care
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
The Lorenz curve shows
A.
B.
C.
D.
the demand for jobs.
the supply of jobs.
the elasticity of jobs.
the distribution of income.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
Compared to a sampling of other developed
nations, the U.S. income distribution is more
unequal than many others. What accounts for this?
A. The lowest-income families in the United States
earn much less than the lowest-income
households in other nations.
B. Marginal income tax rates are much higher in
the United States than in any other nation.
C. The highest-income families in the United
States earn much more than the highestincome households in other nations.
D. Other nations manipulate their data to look
better.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
Age is a determinant of income because
A. with age typically comes experience, education,
and training that can increase income.
B. age contributes to costs as medical expenses
increase.
C. older workers have accumulated more wealth.
D. older workers have accumulated less wealth.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
In general, as individuals undertake additional
years of schooling,
A. their stock of human capital increases.
B. the marginal productivity of individuals as
workers declines.
C. the marginal benefit to society of the extra
years of education increases.
D. the marginal productivity of individuals as
workers becomes negative.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
The productivity standard for the distribution of
income can be thought of as
A. rewarding people according to their ability to
produce useful goods.
B. benefiting only the least productive worker.
C. proving that egalitarians are correct.
D. rewarding only the wealthy.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
The contributive standard (merit standard) for
distributing income implies that
A. income should be distributed equally.
B. income should be distributed according to
need.
C. income should be distributed according to the
marginal productivity of workers.
D. a transfer should be contributed to an individual
above his or her contribution to net output.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
Which of the following is NOT a normative
standard for income distribution?
A.
B.
C.
D.
the productivity standard
the egalitarian principle
rewarding people according to merit
All of the above are normative standards.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
If you believe that all workers should be paid the
same, you believe in the
A.
B.
C.
D.
egalitarian principle.
productivity standard.
benefits standard.
comparative worth principle.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
The idea that the Lorenz curve should be along the
45-degree line is consistent with
A.
B.
C.
D.
the productivity standard.
the egalitarian principle.
the conservative principle.
none of the above.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
The lowest percentage of the U.S. population in
poverty is found when using which measurement
of household resources?
A.
B.
C.
D.
private income only
private income plus cash benefits
private income with cash and in-kind benefits
private income with Social Security payments
subtracted
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
Relative poverty
A.
B.
C.
D.
has been eliminated in the United States.
will always be with us.
has never existed in the United States.
can be eliminated in the next 20 years.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
All of the following are social insurance programs
designed to attack poverty EXCEPT
A.
B.
C.
D.
Social Security.
temporary assistance to needy families.
food stamps.
tuition assistance.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
The official poverty level is based on pretax income
including cash. Which of the following statements is
correct regarding this official specification of poverty?
A. This is a good definition of poverty since it is made
up of the income from productive resources.
B. This is not a good definition of poverty because our
tax structure consists of different tax brackets
based on income.
C. This is not a good definition of poverty because it
does not include in-kind subsidies.
D. This is a good definition of poverty because it is
easy to measure.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
The ________ program was created in 1975 to
provide rebates of Social Security taxes to lowincome workers.
A.
B.
C.
D.
food stamp
SSI
TANF
EITC
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
Which of the following is considered a "third party"
within the medical services industry?
A.
B.
C.
D.
the patient
the private insurance company
the for-profit hospital
the medical provider, i.e. physician
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
One problem with third-party financing of health
care is that
A. people have more incentive to utilize health
care.
B. demand falls so that suppliers cannot take
advantage of economies of scale.
C. it reduces the quality of health care people
receive.
D. it discourages people from relying on their
physicians' advice in making health care
decisions.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
Health care costs have been rising due to
A.
B.
C.
D.
an aging population.
new technologies.
third-party financing.
All of the above are correct.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
The use of hospitals today is dominated by
A.
B.
C.
D.
the elderly.
immigrants.
obstetrical care.
the wealthy.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
In the year 2010, the United States spent about
A.
B.
C.
D.
16 percent of GDP on health care.
100 percent of GDP on health care.
6 percent of GDP on health care.
2 percent of GDP on health care.
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
Which of the following is NOT a reason for the
increase in health care costs?
A.
B.
C.
D.
the aging of the population
the implementation of new technologies
the increase in third-party payments
the decrease in the fertility rate
Roger LeRoy Miller
Economics Today, Sixteenth Edition
© 2012 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.