Download Taylor Economics Chapter 32 Test Bank

Chapter 17 Test Bank
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If South Dakota's governor reports a budget surplus in 2011, that state government likely:
A. received more in taxes than it spent in that year.
B. increased the proportional tax level.
C. equalized spending and taxes in that year.
D. increased the corporate income tax rate.
Answer: A Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Understand
2. If the state of Washington's government collects $75 billion in tax revenues in 2013 and total
spending in the same year is $74.8 billion, the result will be a:
A. budget deficit.
B. budget surplus.
C. decrease in payroll tax.
D. decrease in proportional taxes.
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Understand
3. If the government for the state of Washington collects $65.8 billion in tax revenues in 2013 and
total spending in the same year is $74.8 billion, the result will be:
A. an increase in payroll tax.
B. an increase in excise tax.
C. a budget surplus.
D. a budget deficit.
Answer: D Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Understand
4. A ______________________ is created each time the federal government spends more than it
collects in taxes in a given year.
A. budget deficit
B. budget surplus
C. corporate tax
D. regressive tax
Answer: A Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
5. A ______________________ means that government spending and taxes are equal.
A. fiscal budget
B. balanced budget
C. contractionary fiscal policy
D. discretionary fiscal policy
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
6. A __________________________ policy will cause a greater share of income to be collected from
those with high incomes than from those with lower incomes.
A. proportional tax
B. regressive tax
C. progressive tax
D. excise tax
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Understand
7. A ________________________________ is calculated as a flat percentage of income earned, regardless
of level of income.
A. progressive tax
B. regressive tax
C. proportional tax
D. estate and gift tax
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
8. When the share of individual income tax collected by the government from people with higher
incomes is smaller than the share of tax collected from people with lower incomes, then the tax is
____________________.
A. optional
B. proportional
C. progressive
D. regressive
Answer: D Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Understand
9. In 2010, Microsoft will pay corporate income tax to the federal government based on the
company's __________________.
A. proportional tax rate
B. corporate profits
C. optional tax rate
D. excise profits
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
10. What do goods like gasoline, tobacco, and alcohol typically share in common?
A. A progressive tax is imposed on each of them.
B. A regressive tax is imposed on each of them.
C. They are all subject to government excise taxes.
D. They are all subject to government fiscal taxes.
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Understand
11. The federal government levies _____________________________ on people who pass assets
____________________________, either after death or during life.
A. an estate and gift tax; to the next generation
B. a regressive tax; to non-family members
C. an excise tax; to their children
D. a progressive tax; to non-family members
Answer: A Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Remember
12. If government tax policy requires Peter to pay $15,000 in tax on annual income of $200,000
and Paul to pay $10,000 in tax on annual income of $100,000, then the tax policy is:
A. optional.
B. progressive.
C. proportional.
D. regressive.
Answer: D Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Analyze
13. If government tax policy requires Jane to pay $25,000 in taxes on annual income of $200,000
and Mary to pay $10,000 in tax on annual income of $100,000, then the tax policy is:
A. regressive.
B. progressive.
C. proportional.
D. optional.
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Analyze
14. If government tax policy requires Bill to pay $20,000 in taxes on annual income of $200,000
and Paul to pay $10,000 in tax on annual income of $100,000, then the tax policy is:
A. regressive.
B. progressive.
C. proportional.
D. optional.
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Analyze
15. By June, 2010, the U.S. government owed $13.6 trillion dollars ________________ that, over time,
has remained unpaid.
A. from decreases in excise tax
B. from decreases in income tax
C. in accumulated government debt
D. from decreases in corporate tax
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Remember
16. The government can use _____________ in the form of ____________________ to increase the level
of aggregate demand in the economy.
A. an expansionary fiscal policy; an increase in government spending
B. a contractionary fiscal policy; a reduction in taxes
C. a contractionary fiscal policy; an increase in taxes
D. an expansionary fiscal policy; an increase in corporate taxes
Answer: A Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
17. If a government reduces taxes in order to increase the level of aggregate demand, what type
of fiscal policy is being used?
A. discretionary
B. contractionary
C. standardized
D. expansionary
Answer: D Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
18. A typical ____________________________ fiscal policy allows government to decrease the level of
aggregate demand, through increases in taxes.
A. expansionary
B. contractionary
C. discretionary
D. standardized
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Remember
19. Which of the following terms is used to describe the set of policies that relate to government
spending, taxation, and borrowing?
A. financial policies
B. monetary policies
C. fiscal policies
D. economic policies
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
20. A government collects $70 billion quarterly in tax revenue. Each year it allocates $15 billion to
the justice system and $29 billion for the administrative costs. What percentage of its total annual
tax revenue is left for allocation to the remaining categories of government spending?
A. 84.29%
B. 15.71%
C. 62.85%
D. 37.15%
Answer: A Reference:
Explanation: **This question has a higher degree of difficulty because students must calculate
total annual revenue based on tax revenue collected quarterly prior to calculating the remaining
percentage.
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Apply
21. A government annually allocates $5 billion of its total tax revenue to weather related disaster
relief, $21 billion to healthcare and $11 billion to education. If the government's quarterly tax
revenue is $33 billion, what percentage of its budget is allocated annually to healthcare?
A. 17.50%
B. 63.63%
C. 25.00%
D. 15.90%
Answer: D Reference:
Explanation: **This question has a higher degree of difficulty because students must calculate
total annual revenue based on tax revenue collected quarterly prior to calculating the percentage
annually allocated to healthcare.
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Apply
22. A government collects $700 billion annually in tax revenue. Each year it allocates $70 billion to
the justice system and $130 billion for its own administrative costs. What percentage of annual tax
revenue is allocated to these two categories of government spending?
A. 37.15%
B. 28.57%
C. 17.51%
D. 27.58%
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Apply
23. A government annually collects $230 billion in tax revenue and allocates $70 billion to military
spending. What percentage of this government's budget is spent on its military?
A. 27.50%
B. 36.63%
C. 30.43%
D. 41.90%
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Apply
24. A government annually collects $320 billion in tax revenue and allocates $42 billion to
education spending. What percentage of this government's budget is spent on education?
A. 24.50%
B. 12.31%
C. 30.13%
D. 13.12%
Answer: D Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Apply
25. A government annually collects $230 billion in tax revenue and allocates $29 billion to its
universal healthcare spending. What percentage of this government's budget is spent on
healthcare?
A. 12.60%
B. 26.63%
C. 16.43%
D. 21.90%
Answer: A Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Apply
26. A government collects $600 billion annually in tax revenue. Each year it allocates $35 billion to
healthcare and $50 billion for education. What percentage of annual tax revenue is allocated to
these two categories of government spending?
A. 21.37%
B. 14.16%
C. 17.51%
D. 26.41%
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Apply
27. A government collects $700 billion annually in tax revenue. Each year it allocates $130 billion
to interest payments that it must pay on its accumulated debt. What percentage of annual tax
revenue is allocated to make these interest payments?
A. 17.15%
B. 28.75%
C. 18.57%
D. 27.58%
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Apply
28. When the government passes a new law that explicitly changes overall tax or spending levels,
it is enacting:
A. discretionary fiscal policy.
B. progressive fiscal policy.
C. regressive fiscal policy.
D. fiscal policy.
Answer: A Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
29. _____________________ are a form of tax and spending rules that can affect aggregate demand in
the economy without any additional change in legislation.
A. Standardized employment budgets
B. Discretionary fiscal policies
C. Automatic stabilizers
D. Budget expenditures
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
30. In 2009, the U.S. government spent $1.4 trillion more than it collected in taxes. This deficit was
about:
A. 22% of the size of the U.S. GDP in 2009.
B. 26% of the size of the U.S. GDP in 2009.
C. 18 % of the size of the U.S. GDP in 2009.
D. 10% of the size of the U.S. GDP in 2009.
Answer: D Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
31. Which of the following is the percentage of annual US government spending allocated to
foreign aid?
A. 21%
B. 10%
C. 1%
D. 17%
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
32. At the beginning of 2009, a government had a total debt of $540 billion dollars. It ended 2009
with a $6 billion dollar budget surplus. In 2010, its budget surplus reached $8 billion dollars.
What is the total debt of the government equal to at the end of 2010?
A. $554 billion
B. $540 billion
C. $0
D. $14 billion
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Apply
33. At the beginning 2010, the government of Norway had no debt and held $180 billion dollars
in its sovereign fund. To stimulate its economy during 2011, Norway's government plans to spend
$35 billion more than it will collect in tax revenue and in 2012, its spending will exceed tax
revenues by $25 billion. What will the total government debt equal at the end of 2012?
A. $60 billion
B. $0
C. $120 billion
D. $180 billion
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Apply
34. If a country’s GDP increases, but its debt also increases during that year, then the country’s
debt to GDP ratio for the year will _______________ in proportion to the magnitude of the changes.
A. decrease because GDP increased
B. increase because its debt increased
C. increase
D. increase or decrease
Answer: D Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
35. If a country’s GDP increases, but its debt decreases during that year, then the country’s debt
to GDP ratio for the year will _______________ in proportion to the magnitude of the changes.
A. increase or decrease
B. decrease because its debt decreased
C. increase because GDP increased
D. decrease
Answer: A Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
36. If a country’s GDP decreases, but its debt increases during that year, then the country’s debt
to GDP ratio for the year will _______________ in proportion to the magnitude of the changes.
A. decrease
B. increase or decrease
C. increase
D. decrease because GDP decreased
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
37. During a recession, if a government uses an expansionary fiscal policy to increase GDP, the:
A. aggregate supply curve will shift to the right.
B. aggregate supply curve will shift to the left.
C. aggregate demand curve will shift to the left.
D. aggregate demand curve will shift to the right.
Answer: D Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
38. When inflation begins to climb to unacceptable levels in the economy, the government
should:
A. use contractionary fiscal policy to shift aggregate demand to the right.
B. use contractionary fiscal policy to shift aggregate demand to the left.
C. use expansionary fiscal policy to shift aggregate demand to the right.
D. use expansionary fiscal policy to shift aggregate demand to the left.
Answer: A Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
39. When increasing oil prices cause aggregate supply to shift to the left, then:
A. unemployment and inflation decrease.
B. unemployment decreases and inflation increases.
C. unemployment and inflation increase.
D. unemployment increases and inflation decreases.
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
40. If an economy moves into a recession, causing that country to produce less than potential
GDP, then:
A. automatic stabilizers will cause tax revenue to decrease and government spending to increase.
B. automatic stabilizers will cause tax revenue to increase and government spending to decrease.
C. tax revenue and government spending will be higher because of automatic stabilizers.
D. tax revenue and government spending will be lower because of automatic stabilizers.
Answer: A Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
41. If Canada's economy moves into an expansion while its economy is producing more than
potential GDP, then:
A. government spending and tax revenue will increase because of automatic stabilizers.
B. government spending and tax revenue will decrease because of automatic stabilizers.
C. automatic stabilizers will increase government spending and decrease tax revenue.
D. automatic stabilizers will decrease government spending and increase tax revenue.
Answer: D Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
42. If individual income tax accounts for more total revenue than the payroll tax in the U.S., why
would over half the households in the country pay more in payroll taxes than in income taxes?
A. income tax is a proportional tax
B. income tax is a progressive tax
C. payroll tax is a regressive tax
D. payroll tax is a progressive tax
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
43. If the economy is producing less than its potential GDP, _____________________ will show a larger
deficit than the actual budget.
A. discretionary fiscal policy
B. the automatic stabilizers
C. the standardized employment budget
D. expansionary fiscal policy
Answer: C Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
44. When a country's economy is producing at a level that exceeds its potential GDP, the
standardized employment budget will show a __________________ than the actual budget.
A. smaller surplus
B. smaller deficit
C. larger deficit
D. surplus
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
45. Assume that laws have been passed that require the federal government to run a balanced
budget. During a recession, the government will want to implement _____________________, but may
be unable to do so because such a policy would ____________________________.
A. contractionary fiscal policy; lead to a budget deficit
B. discretionary fiscal policy; lead to a budget surplus
C. contractionary fiscal policy; lead to a budget surplus
D. expansionary fiscal policy; lead to a budget deficit
Answer: D Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
46. The time lag for monetary policy is typically ________________ the time lag for fiscal policy.
A. longer than
B. shorter than
C. about the same as
D. the same as
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
47. Currently, the US government accumulated debt to GDP ratio:
A. is lower than its historical high point.
B. is higher than it has ever been.
C. is lower than it has ever been.
D. has remained relatively steady for the past decade.
Answer: A Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
48. The current level of US government accumulated debt, when measured in nominal dollars:
A. has reached higher levels in the past.
B. is higher than it has ever been.
C. is lower than it has ever been.
D. has remained steady for the past decade.
Answer: B Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Remember
49. A consensus estimate based on a number of studies suggests that if there is an increase in
budget deficits (or a fall in budget surplus) by 1% of GDP, it will most likely cause which of the
following?
A. an increase of 0.5–1.0% in the long-term interest rate
B. long and variable time lags in enacting the fiscal policy
C. smaller impact due to temporary fiscal policy
D. output above the potential GDP output level
Answer: A Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Multiple Choice
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Analyze
Essay Questions
1. Briefly discuss the effects of time lags in relation to fiscal policy, including: a comparison to
monetary policy, what the level of fiscal policy will be, and its effect on fiscal policy during
recession.
Monetary policy can be changed several times each year, but fiscal policy is much slower to be
enacted. Many fiscal policy bills about spending or taxes propose changes that start in the next
budget year or would be phased in gradually over time. Moreover, the exact level of fiscal policy
to be implemented is never completely clear. After a recession has started, it can take many
months or even more than a year to begin an expansionary fiscal policy, and even then,
uncertainty will remain over exactly how much to expand or contract taxes and spending.
Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Essay
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
2. Define fiscal policies.
Fiscal policies are the set of policies relating to government spending, taxation, and borrowing.
Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Essay
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
3. Briefly explain how a budget deficit arises and what corresponding action is typically by taken
by a government in this type of circumstance.
When the federal government spends more than it collects in taxes in a given year, it runs a
budget deficit. The government borrows funds to cover its budget deficits by issuing Treasury
bonds, thus borrowing from the public and promising to repay with interest in the future.
Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Essay
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Understand
4. List the major categories that the U.S. government spends its tax revenue on and indicate what
percentage of tax revenue is spent on these categories on an annual basis.
About 70% of government spending goes to four major areas: national defense, Social Security,
health care, and interest payments on past borrowing.
Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Essay
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Understand
5. Identify and briefly describe all the sources of federal taxes.
The primary sources of federal taxes are individual income taxes and the payroll taxes that finance
Social Security and Medicare. Corporation income taxes, excise taxes, and other taxes provide
smaller shares of revenue. The government also imposes an estate and gift tax on people who
pass large amounts of assets to the next generation—either after death or during life in the form
of gifts. Other federal taxes, which are also relatively small in magnitude, include tariffs collected
on imported goods, and charges for inspections of goods entering the country.
Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Essay
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
6. Briefly explain the purpose served by payroll taxes and how they are collected. Describe any
comment that economists point out with regard to payroll taxes.
The payroll taxes collect revenues to fund Social Security and Medicare. In both cases, the taxes
are technically collected half from employee paychecks and half from employers. However, as
economists are quick to point out, the employer’s half of the taxes is probably passed along to
the employees in the form of lower wages.
Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Essay
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Understand
7. Identify the category of tax that applies to payroll taxes and contrast the Medicare payroll tax
with the Social Security payroll tax.
The Medicare payroll tax is a proportional tax; that is, a flat percentage of all income earned. The
Social Security payroll tax is proportional up to the earnings limit, but above that level of income
it becomes a regressive tax, meaning that people with higher incomes pay a smaller share of their
income in tax.
Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Essay
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Apply
8. Contrast government debt with budget deficit or surplus.
Government debt refers to the total amount that the government has borrowed over time; in
contrast, the budget deficit or the budget surplus refers to how much has been borrowed in one
particular year.
Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Essay
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Understand
9. Briefly describe what the "baby boom" affect will be in relation to payroll taxes and indicate
what options the government could use to address this issue.
The current level of the payroll taxes that support Social Security and Medicare will fall well short
of the projected expenses of these programs; thus, the forecast is for large budget deficits. The
current payroll tax levied on workers, which support all of Social Security and the hospitalization
insurance part of Medicare, won’t be enough to cover the expected costs. Taxes could be raised
to fund these programs. Or the government could run very large budget deficits and borrow the
money to finance these programs.
Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Essay
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Apply
10. Identify and briefly describe some practical difficulties of discretionary fiscal policy.
Discretionary fiscal policy faces some practical difficulties: (a) expansionary fiscal policy can raise
interest rates, which tends to reduce the expansionary impact of the policy; (b) there are long and
variable time lags in enacting fiscal policy and waiting for it to have an effect; (c) the impact of
temporary fiscal policy is smaller than the impact of permanent fiscal policy; (d) fiscal policy
cannot push economic output above the potential GDP level of output; (e) it may be hard to
persuade politicians of the merits of countercyclical fiscal policy.
Reference:
Explanation:
Type: Essay
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Understand
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