Deck 4: The Economics Base of Canadian Social Welfare

Question 1

Identify seven social welfare public goods that take the form of "risk spreading" or "life cycle expenditure spreading" and explain how they typify that form of economic activity.

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

Thoroughly discuss the "Monetarist vision", citing recently published newspaper or magazine articles or editorials that include commentaries that appear to be in harmony with that vision.

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

Provide a detailed description of the Keynesian model, explaining how supply, demand and employment would be characterized, and locate current news items in which authors or interviewees appear to be influenced by the Keynesian model today.

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

The author of Chapter 4 states: "we have seen a significant shift away from social welfare systems, risk spreading, and mutual aid, and towards a system of individualism and self-reliance" (p. 54). Find evidence of this phenomenon occurring in a specific city or region of Canada and comment on who, if anyone, seems to be critical of the shift.

Question 5

Measuring poverty is important if we want to decrease it. Provide definitions of different ways poverty is commonly measured, and research some of the strategies to combat poverty that are being proposed by some Canadian authors and leaders.

Question 6

What are three central questions often asked related to scarcity in economics?

Question 7

List some ways people save money and some of the reasons they save?

Question 8

Explain how the economy functions, according to Keynes' theories.

Question 9

What are three reasons we should care about poverty and inequality in our society?

Question 10

What has been the impact of soaring corporate profits and manager remuneration, combined with a declining ability among families to be able to afford goods and services?

Question 11

A graph that reveals the trade-off between savings and consumption within an economy is known as:

A) The radical redemption rate (RRR)
B) The consumer price index (CPI)
C) The mid-way economical calculator (MEC)
D) The production possibility frontier (PPF)

Question 12

The most feasible solution to helping the "poorest of the poor" through a policy approach would be:

A) A guaranteed income policy
B) A guaranteed tax benefit policy
C) Food voucher distribution policies
D) Home Heating Supplements

Question 13

Who was instrumental in setting up the World Bank and the IMF in 1944?

A) William Lyon Mackenzie King
B) Ronald Reagan
C) John Maynard Keynes
D) Milton Friedman

Question 14

"Workfare", where firms are given subsidies by governments to be able to hire individuals in receipt of welfare, is said by the author to only be excusable in situations such as:

A) A sheltered workshop for people with severe disabilities
B) Countries where NAFTA does not apply
C) Provinces where over 10% of the population is receiving welfare
D) During national recessions when there is more urgent need for employment opportunities

Question 15

What has been dominating fiscal policy over the past 15 years, to the detriment of the vulnerable underclass of Canadian society?

A) Conservative regimes
B) Interest group politics
C) Working Class politics
D) Liberal regimes

Question 16

Chicago and Austrian Schools in economics strongly believe in:

A) small government, price stability, and the superiority of personal choice and free markets.
B) small government, price fluctuation, and the superiority of personal choice and free markets.
C) small governments, price stability, and the superiority of personal choice and controlled markets.
D) small governments, price stability, and the superiority of nationalist choice and free markets.

Question 17

A measurement of poverty made through direct means necessary to sustain life, and often converted to the money amount needed to secure the food, is known as:

A) Sustenance poverty
B) Basic means poverty
C) Relative poverty
D) Absolute poverty

Question 18

A measurement of poverty that is measured with respect to social norms through Low Income cut-offs (LICOS) for different household sizes and rural and urban locations is known as:

A) Sustenance poverty
B) Basic means poverty
C) Relative poverty
D) Absolute poverty

Question 19

An economy that is always at full employment is part of the:

A) Keynesian View
B) Monetarist View
C) Edwardian View
D) Proletarian View

Question 20

Rather than relying on a combination of anti-inflationary policies and loose monetary policy (a low Canadian dollar) to maintain their competitiveness, what should Canadian business have been doing instead?

A) Lending profits to governments in need.
B) Investing in productivity with their profits.
C) Reducing the national debt.
D) Investing in stock market funds for stability.

Question 21

Using a statistic such as "one in five children are living in poverty" is an effective way to present the issue because it gives an indication of how much incomes need to increase to eliminate poverty.

Question 22

Necessity goods are more likely to be produced offshore, thus needing to be imported, than luxury goods.

Question 23

Since the year 2000, the Consolidated spending by Canadian Federal, Provincial, Territorial and Local Governments for the three categories of Social Services, Health and Education is highest in Social Services and lowest in Education.

Question 24

With regard to a public good, the social benefit derived from consuming an additional unit of the good is lower than the private marginal benefit.

Question 25

There has been a general shift in the tax burden away from corporate taxes and towards personal income tax and excise taxes on personal consumption.

Question 26

The rate of income tax, as imposed by a government in power, is a reflection of the dollar votes of Canadian society for the consumption and provision of public goods.

Question 27

Keynes is remembered for emphasizing the importance of stability in employment due to his experiences during the Great Depression.

Question 28

With regard to a public good, the "free rider" principle holds that it is very hard to keep people from benefiting from a good without paying for it.

Question 29

Over the past twenty years there has been a gradual shift toward increased support for public expenditures, away from private consumption.

Question 30

The minimum wage is universally set at the living wage level (i.e. the wage needed, based on a 40-hour work week, to afford shelter, transportation, groceries, utilities, a modest set of clothing and entertainment).