Taxes and in-kind transfers make the distribution of income more unequal.
a. True
b. False
QUESTION 2The minimum wage is an attempt to raise the income of low-income workers.
a. True
b. False
QUESTION 3The most recent data indicates households in the top fifth of the income distribution earn as much income as the bottom four fifths combined.
a. True
b. False
QUESTION 4If a firm is maximizing profit and the marginal revenue product of labor is 10 and the marginal revenue product of capital is 30, then
a. the marginal resource cost of labor is 3, and the marginal resource cost of capital is 0.33
b. the marginal resource cost of labor is 0.33, and the marginal resource cost of capital is 3
c. the marginal resource cost of labor equals the marginal resource cost of capital; both are 300
d. the marginal resource cost of labor is 1/3 of the marginal resource cost of capital
e. we have no way of knowing the marginal resource cost of either labor or capital
QUESTION 5The most recent data indicates households in the top fifth of the income distribution earn more than ten times as much income as those in the bottom fifth.
a. True
b. False
QUESTION 6If MRPlabor/MRClabor > MRPcapital/MRCcapital, then the firm should
a. hire more labor
b. substitute capital for labor
c. not change anything
d. buy more capital
e. decrease the amount of labor
QUESTION 7If the marginal productivity of labor was the sole determinant of household income in the U.S., then
a. no households would be poor according to the official government definition of poverty
b. no households would be poor according to a relative definition of poverty
c. the distribution of income would be unequal
d. every household would have sufficient income to meet biological needs
e. there would be no need for government programs to redistribute income