POLS 207 Roblyer Exam 2 Questions
With Complete Solutions
/. Anything dies - Answer-✅When funding is taken away
/.Nothing happens - Answer-✅without establishing funding...
/.Comparing budgetary policy - Answer-✅important way to measure political differences
between states
-how is revenue generated? Who pays the bills and who gets a bye?
-how is money spent? on who? who gets less or none?
/.Reminder about numbers - Answer-✅-size of numbers matter, but also how they
compare to other numbers of interest
-rough ideas of size
-rough comparisons/ratios/%
/.Public goods - Answer-✅-non-excludable & non-rivaling
-everyone can use without denying to others
/.Merit goods - Answer-✅-some public goods
-should not be denied to people who cannot pay for them (public education,
transportation, healthcare)
/.Private goods - Answer-✅-excludable and rivaling
-goods only available to those who pay
/.Revenue - Answer-✅income received by government
-most comes from taxes, but not all
/.Expenditures - Answer-✅goods and services purchased or provided with government
funds
/.Gross Domestic Product - Answer-✅-commonly used measure of the size, health, and
power of the economy of a nation
-measure annually
/.Individuals/was the same - Answer-✅When it comes to federal income taxes in the
U.S., which group contributes the most today? Was the answer different
/.Most common sources of state government revenue - Answer-✅-taxes
, -federal grants
-fees and licenses
-interest on investments
-direct sales
-borrowing
-gambling/lottery
/."ability-to-pay" model - Answer-✅taxes based on this model
-benefits distributed to all who are eligible to receive, regardless of ability to pay
-costs distributed based on wealth & income
-"redistributes" some wealth
-"others-pay" model is popular variation
/."User-pay" Model - Answer-✅-used for fees, not for taxes
-distributes benefits only to those who pay
-more "capitalist" than ability-to-pay model
/.Hybrids - Answer-✅-increasingly common
-user fees (tolls) may pay for loans used to build the road, and taxes may pay for
maintenance of the tollway
-goods and services funded by user fees don't require tax increases
/.Taxes - Answer-✅required because the market is unable or unwilling to provide public
goods
/.Normative Language - Answer-✅prevails when debating taxes-the math involved in an
afterthought
-"what should be"
/.Polls of citizens - Answer-✅taxes too high, but services too low or just right
/.Winning vs. losing in taxes - Answer-✅-we pay less, but get more
-redistribution is to us, not from us (but somebody must be losing?)
/.Zero-Sum game - Answer-✅-no services exist without someone paying the bill
/.Tax Base - Answer-✅-the item/amount subject to taxation (but usually not entire
value/amount)
/.Progressive tax rate - Answer-✅higher base means higher rate
/.Fixed tax rate - Answer-✅same rate, independent of base
/.Regressive tax rate - Answer-✅lower base means higher rate
With Complete Solutions
/. Anything dies - Answer-✅When funding is taken away
/.Nothing happens - Answer-✅without establishing funding...
/.Comparing budgetary policy - Answer-✅important way to measure political differences
between states
-how is revenue generated? Who pays the bills and who gets a bye?
-how is money spent? on who? who gets less or none?
/.Reminder about numbers - Answer-✅-size of numbers matter, but also how they
compare to other numbers of interest
-rough ideas of size
-rough comparisons/ratios/%
/.Public goods - Answer-✅-non-excludable & non-rivaling
-everyone can use without denying to others
/.Merit goods - Answer-✅-some public goods
-should not be denied to people who cannot pay for them (public education,
transportation, healthcare)
/.Private goods - Answer-✅-excludable and rivaling
-goods only available to those who pay
/.Revenue - Answer-✅income received by government
-most comes from taxes, but not all
/.Expenditures - Answer-✅goods and services purchased or provided with government
funds
/.Gross Domestic Product - Answer-✅-commonly used measure of the size, health, and
power of the economy of a nation
-measure annually
/.Individuals/was the same - Answer-✅When it comes to federal income taxes in the
U.S., which group contributes the most today? Was the answer different
/.Most common sources of state government revenue - Answer-✅-taxes
, -federal grants
-fees and licenses
-interest on investments
-direct sales
-borrowing
-gambling/lottery
/."ability-to-pay" model - Answer-✅taxes based on this model
-benefits distributed to all who are eligible to receive, regardless of ability to pay
-costs distributed based on wealth & income
-"redistributes" some wealth
-"others-pay" model is popular variation
/."User-pay" Model - Answer-✅-used for fees, not for taxes
-distributes benefits only to those who pay
-more "capitalist" than ability-to-pay model
/.Hybrids - Answer-✅-increasingly common
-user fees (tolls) may pay for loans used to build the road, and taxes may pay for
maintenance of the tollway
-goods and services funded by user fees don't require tax increases
/.Taxes - Answer-✅required because the market is unable or unwilling to provide public
goods
/.Normative Language - Answer-✅prevails when debating taxes-the math involved in an
afterthought
-"what should be"
/.Polls of citizens - Answer-✅taxes too high, but services too low or just right
/.Winning vs. losing in taxes - Answer-✅-we pay less, but get more
-redistribution is to us, not from us (but somebody must be losing?)
/.Zero-Sum game - Answer-✅-no services exist without someone paying the bill
/.Tax Base - Answer-✅-the item/amount subject to taxation (but usually not entire
value/amount)
/.Progressive tax rate - Answer-✅higher base means higher rate
/.Fixed tax rate - Answer-✅same rate, independent of base
/.Regressive tax rate - Answer-✅lower base means higher rate
