Fiscal policy
Theft
Health ins
Inequalities and Immigration
Trade restrictions
100

What is fiscal policy and how does it differ from monetary policy?

gov makes decisions about who to tax, how much to tax, and what to spend the money on

Monetary policy is used by the fed

100

T/F the US tax system is a flat tax system

F, we have a progressive tax system

100

What are the 3 main points of ObamaCare/ACA?

  • Individual mandate: Everyone has to have health insurance
  • Employer mandate: employers w/ 50+ employees must provide health insurance for all full-time workers (35+hrs/week)
  • Mandated approval of insurance: insurance companies cannot turn you down for having a pre-existing condition
100

What is the problem with defining wealth?

Wealth includes things other than income. Hard to define the value of some things.

100
What does free trade mean?

gov’s don’t treat imports any differently than domestically produced g/s

200

Where does the government get their revenue?

Taxes and borrowing (gov bonds)

200

Which tax category reels in the most revenue for the federal gov?

US income tax

200

What are the unintended consequences of the 3 mandates?

1st mandate: incr D health insurance + incr D healthcare = incr P of both

2nd mandate: decr # of full-time workers, incr costs --> decr S --> Incr Prices

3rd mandate: + law that prevents sale of health insurance across state lines

200
What happens to the wages for citizens with immigration increasing, and what happens to wages for immigrants?

Wages for native born citizens don't change, wages for immigrants increase

200

Why does the gov impose trade restrictions?

  • It says to promote domestic industry, but most of the time due to lobbying
300

When tax rev is

less than Spending

greater than spending

equal to spending

We have what?

- deficit

- surplus

- balanced budget

300

How can we lower US national debt?

  • Cut spending on other stuff
  • Get more tax rev ($ amt)
  • Or combos of both
300

T/F US healthcare is comprehensive (covers multiple things)

T

300

T/F explain: 

Immigration overall helps the U.S. economy

(Keep it non-political)

True; immigrants add to the work force and add valuable tax revenue. 
300

What is a tariff and why would the federal gov impose it?

  • Tariffs: tax on an imported good paid by the foreign producer to the domestic gov 
  • To try to promote certain industries due to lobbying or others interests.
400

What is the spending generally broken up into?

  • Mandatory spending- social security, Medicare, Medicaid, VA benefits (61% of budget)
  • Discretionary spending- military (30 something %)
  • Interest on the debt
400

What is the tax revenue if you have a person making $120,000, $75,000, and $24,000 respectively?

$22,200, $11,807, $2,660

400

What are the 2 drawbacks of free healthcare?

  • Cons: “medically necessary” up to gov
  • Longer wait times and higher taxes
400

Which is more important to measure, income levels or income shares?

Income shares

400

Why is free trade important?

It takes away inefficiencies and helps countries lower prices for products?

500

*In a normal year* what is the thing the gov spends the most on?

Social Security

500

How do we get more tax rev?

  • Focus on increasing economic growth because the % of GDP the gov collects as rev is between 16-18% regardless of our tax policies
500

What are the 3 components of healthcare in other countries?

  • Socialized medicine: like the VA hospital
  • Single payer: gov is the sole payer of healthcare for everyone
  • Privatized- healthcare is run by private for-profit businesses + ppl pay on their own
500

How do we define well-being, and how can we use that measurement to view inequality?

-Wealth

-Income before taxes and transfers

-Income after taxes and transfers

-Consumption expenditures

-Experience/happiness

We can compare well-beings of different people and see what inequality gap exists.

500

What is the country with the least amount of free trade and the country with the most

Singapore and North Korea

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