Economics 280
Health Economics
Professor Eric Jamelske
Name _______________**SOLUTIONS**______________
Optional Worksheet: Micro vs. Macro & Normative vs. Positive
1. Identify each of the following statements as a topic of study in either microeconomics or macroeconomics:
a. The growth of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has slowed over the past several years.
Macro
b. The percent of U.S. GDP allocated to healthcare spending has increased to an all time high.
Micro
c. Prescription drug prices have increased dramatically over the last decade.
Micro
d. There is renewed concern over inflation as the overall price level in the U.S. economy has begun to increase faster
than any time in the previous decade.
Macro
e Higher wages paid to nurses would solve the nursing shortage problem.
Micro
f. The overall level of wages has been declining in the U.S over the past decade.
Macro
g. The current unemployment rate in the U.S continues to be high relative to the 1990s.
Macro
h. As the U.S unemployment rate risen, many people have lost their health insurance coverage.
Micro
i. Requiring retail firms to offer mandatory health benefits to workers would result in the loss of retail jobs.
Micro
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2. Identify each of the following statements as either positive or normative:
a. U.S. spending on healthcare is rising faster than Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Positive
b. The U.S. spends too much on healthcare.
Normative
c. The primary reason for the increase in the health sector’s share of GDP over the last 30 years is technological
change in medicine.
Positive
d. The U.S. should enact some healthcare insurance plan that covers the entire population.
Normative
e. The high cost of health care in the U.S. makes U.S. firms substantially less competitive in the global economy.
Positive
f. In the long run employers bear the primary burden of their contributions to employees’ health insurance.
Positive
g. The U.S should enact price regulations to control the cost of prescription drugs.
Normative
h. Enacting price controls on prescription drugs will result in fewer new drugs being developed.
Positive
i. The U.S should allow the re-importation of prescription drugs from Canada.
Normative
j. Allowing the re-importation of prescription drugs to the U.S from Canada will save lives.
Positive
k. Health insurance premiums should be higher for smokers than non-smokers.
Normative
l. Health insurance premiums charged to individuals born with genetic defects (that result in above average use of
medical care) should be higher than those charged to individuals without such defects.
Normative
m. Allowing the sale of human organs in the U.S. would increase the supply of organs available for transplant.
Positive
n. The U.S. should allow the sale of human organs.
Normative
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