When economists disagree about whether legislation is a good idea,even when they agree about its impacts,the disagreements are usually over
A) normative issues
B) positive issues
C) the mathematical calculations in an economic model
D) whether microeconomics or macroeconomics is more important
E) whether economic theory is useful in explaining the behavior of actors in the economy

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

When economists agree about the impacts of legislation, they are discussing positive issues, that is, what will occur if the legislation is implemented. However, if they still disagree about whether the legislation is a good idea, it is because of normative issues. Normative issues are those related to value judgments or opinions about what is desirable or not. Therefore, economists may have different views on whether the benefits of the legislation outweigh the costs or whether the legislation is fair or not.

When Economists Disagree About Whether Legislation Is a Good Idea,even