Boule Test 1 macro

Flashcard 1: Government Weaknesses

The government struggles to measure its successes and often imposes the costs of its failures on others, making its performance hard to assess accurately.

Flashcard 2: Primary Role in Law and Order

The government’s primary role is to ensure equality under the law, maintain transparency, and define regulations to uphold societal order.

Flashcard 3: Economic Productivity and Law

Law and order contribute to economic productivity by preventing theft and violence, allowing people to focus on being productive rather than surviving.

Flashcard 4: Cost of Living Without Law and Order

In areas lacking law and order, the cost of living can increase by 100% to 200%, leading to job losses and economic decline.

Flashcard 5: Government’s Role in Competition

One of the government’s key roles is to promote perfect competition by protecting private property rights and enforcing anti-trust regulations.

Flashcard 6: The Kelo Decision and Government Power

The Kelo decision illustrates the division between New Classical and Neo-Keynesian theories regarding the use of government power in the economy.

Flashcard 7: Public Goods and Government Responsibility

Public goods, like defense and education, are expensive to provide, and while important, they may not always be the government’s responsibility.

Flashcard 8: Externalities

Externalities refer to third-party costs or benefits that arise from the production or consumption of goods, affecting those not directly involved in the transaction.

Flashcard 9: Government and Negative Externalities

The government addresses negative externalities, like pollution, through cost-benefit analysis to determine whether the benefits outweigh the costs.

Flashcard 10: Assessing Global Warming Externalities

Assessing externalities like global warming is challenging because while the costs are known, the benefits are often uncertain, complicating decision-making.

Flashcard 11: Income Redistribution in Government

Income redistribution is a highly debated government function, often viewed as costly and purely normative, aiming to address economic inequality.

Flashcard 12: 'Don’t Impose Your Morality'

The phrase suggests that individual moral views should not dictate laws or societal norms, promoting personal freedom in legal matters.

Flashcard 13: Laws as Morality Reflections

Laws represent judgments of morality, raising the question of whose morality is being imposed on society through legal structures.

Flashcard 14: Consequences of Unequal Law

Losing equality under the law can lead to discrimination and unequal treatment, undermining fairness in legal systems.

Flashcard 15: 'Perfect Being the Enemy of the Good' in Governance

Striving for perfection in governance can hinder practical and effective solutions, as it may prevent necessary compromises or reforms.

Flashcard 16: Moral Vacuums and Government Intervention

A lack of virtue in society often results in increased government intervention to impose order and address moral or ethical deficiencies.

Flashcard 17: Police vs. Anarchy in History

In the 1930s, people opted for a police state for safety, accepting the moral compromises over the chaos of anarchy.

Flashcard 18: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Foreign Legal Precedents

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s quote about consulting other nations' courts reflects a belief in valuing foreign legal perspectives over traditional U.S. principles.

Flashcard 19: 'Ends Justify the Means' in Politics

This phrase implies that achieving a desired outcome can justify unethical or questionable actions taken in the process.

Flashcard 20: Demand and Supply Allocation

Demand and supply are key mechanisms for efficiently allocating resources, impacting both macroeconomic and personal decision-making.

Flashcard 21: Shifts in Demand

A shift in demand indicates a change in people's desire for a good, independent of its current price.

Flashcard 22: Factors Shifting Demand

Three factors that can shift demand include: 1) Changes in consumer utility, 2) Changes in income, and 3) Population growth.

Flashcard 23: Shifting Supply Inward

When supply shifts inward (to the left), fewer goods are available, leading to higher prices.

Flashcard 24: Desired Direction of Supply Shifts

The ideal direction for supply shifts is outward (to the right), increasing the quantity of goods and lowering prices.

Flashcard 25: Factors Shifting Supply

Two key factors that can shift supply are 1) Advances in technology, and 2) The number of firms in the market.

Flashcard 26: Taxes and Market Prices

Taxes create two prices: one paid by consumers (Pc) and one paid by firms (Pf), leading to reduced production and deadweight loss (DWL).

Flashcard 27: Deadweight Loss (DWL)

Deadweight loss refers to the economic inefficiency that arises when market outcomes deviate from the equilibrium point, often due to taxes or regulations.

Flashcard 28: Example of Government Driving Up Car Prices

The 2009 "Cash for Clunkers" program is an example of a government policy that led to higher car prices.

Flashcard 29: Ripple Effects in Economics

Ripple effects in economics refer to how a change in one economic factor can cause changes in others, often overlooked by governments.

Flashcard 30: Expectations and Market Behavior

Expectations play a crucial role in both demand and supply, influencing people’s decisions based on what they believe will happen in the future.

Flashcard 31: Technology’s Impact on Supply

Market-driven technology improves supply efficiency, while government-driven technology may introduce inefficiencies.

Flashcard 32: Number of Firms and Competition

A larger number of firms in the market leads to greater competition, which can affect prices and market dynamics.

Flashcard 33: Green New Deal’s Impact on Supply

The Green New Deal is viewed as a "supply killer" due to its regulatory implications that could stifle economic growth.

Flashcard 34: Online Taxes and Representation

Online taxes create barriers to business growth and raise concerns about taxation without proper representation.

Flashcard 35: Immigration’s Economic Impact

Immigration can affect labor supply and demand dynamics, influencing wages and employment opportunities in the economy.

Flashcard 36: 'No Taxation Without Representation'

This principle asserts that citizens should not be taxed by a government without having a say in the government’s decisions.

Flashcard 37: Consequences of Oil Industry Regulations

Government regulations on the oil industry can lead to higher gas prices and hinder exploration activities, affecting supply.

Flashcard 38: Withholding Taxes in California

Withholding taxes in California can result in financial burdens on individuals and businesses, affecting economic outcomes.

Flashcard 39: Macroeconomics' Fundamental Questions

Macroeconomics addresses three key questions: What to produce? How to produce? For whom to produce?

Flashcard 40: Free Market System

In a free market system, firms and individuals make economic decisions, with the government’s primary role being law enforcement and protection.

Flashcard 41: Historical Free Market Period

Free Market countries existed predominantly between 1776 and 1914, though no true free-market economies exist today.

Flashcard 42: Market Economy Characteristics

A market economy emphasizes private sector success, with government intervention to address failures and focus on public infrastructure.

Flashcard 43: Examples of Market Economy Countries

Countries like Singapore, Ireland in the 1990s-2010s, and the U.S. from 1980-2008 and 2017-2021 operated under market economy principles.

Flashcard 44: Managed Economy Role of Government

In a managed economy, the government coordinates economic activities for the greater good while allowing private ownership.

Flashcard 45: Basic Premise of Socialism

Socialism posits that the government can produce goods and services more effectively than the private sector, aiming for economic fairness.

Flashcard 46: Positive Socialist Examples

Countries like Canada, France, and Sweden are often cited as examples of socialist economic models with successful outcomes.

Flashcard 47: Communism’s Core Idea

Communism advocates for the equal distribution of resources, where the government controls all assets to achieve equality of results.

Flashcard 48: Historical Outcomes of Communism

Communist regimes have often resulted in poverty and mass loss of life, with no successful examples of rich communist nations.

Flashcard 49: Efficiency vs. Equity in Macroeconomics

Nations face a trade-off between prioritizing efficiency (leading to unequal outcomes) and equity (which may result in poverty).

Flashcard 50: Incentives and Economic Behavior

Incentives drive people and firms to adjust their behavior, as seen with policies like speed limits and welfare programs.

Flashcard 51: Organizing Economic Activity

Markets are generally seen as an effective way to organize economic activity, with government intervention addressing market failures.

Flashcard 52: Government in a Socialist Economy

In socialist economies, the government has significant control over production and wealth distribution to ensure fairness.

Flashcard 53: Neo-Keynesian Concerns with Private Wealth

Neo-Keynesians argue that excessive private wealth can harm the public good, advocating for greater government intervention.

Flashcard 54: Managed Economy Focus

A managed economy’s goal is to guide economic activity for the greater good while permitting private ownership and market participation.

Flashcard 55: Moral High Utility Government

This term refers to the idea that governments should operate with a moral compass to avoid negative consequences associated with unchecked power.