Microeconomics 18th Edition by Campbell McConnell, Stanley Brue, Sean Flynn

Exercise 11

EARMARKS-EFFICIENT PUBLIC GOODS OR INEFFICIENT PUBLIC PORK The advocacy organization Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) identifies earmarks in current legislation that it concludes reflect government waste. Go to www.cagw.org and search through the CAGW Web site to find five recent examples of alleged wasteful expenditures. What kinds of additional information would you need before you accepted the group's assertion that each of the five projects is indeed wasteful Explain how a Federally funded project might be wasteful from a national perspective, yet still be highly beneficial for a specific city or state.