Chapters 19, and 23 in the Microeconomics textbook by McConnell Blue Fynn. The following essay questions will be the subjects of the exam. You should be prepared to write two (2) in class. Each essay will be graded on content. You should be specific, thorough and accurate, and avoid simple unexplored assertions, or not ignore critical analysis where appropriate. it is imperative that you cover the subject and in doing so demonstrate what you know. Essays: 1.) Identify and discuss some of the major reasons why economists believe that continuous increases in living standards through economic growth, is sustainable. Consider for example things like falling birthrates, the use of the profit motive, property rights, harnessing market forces. Then explain the economic reasoning behind any two of the following issues: 1) that economic growth does not have to be bad for the environment; 2) that we are not running out of energy; or 3) that conservation efforts that are designed to use primarily market forces can work to perpetuate renewable resources. 2.) Identify and explain some of the major causes of income distribution inequalities we have encountered in this course. Include in your discussion at least 3 of the following inequalitites: monopoly power, discrimination, labor market structures, other market imperfections, and immigration. First essay: 1.) Falling Birthrates (T19.1) 2.) Demographic Transition 3.) Falling resource prices (F19.1) 4.) Low Fertility 5.) Per Capital water use (F19.2) 6.) Per Capital Energy use (F19.3) 7.) Per Capital Trash Generation (F19.4) 8.) Long run Resource demand Decline 9.) Increasing Energy use Efficiency (F19.5) 10.) Mixing Energy Generation Technologies (F19.6) 11.) Multiple Sources of Energy Supply (T19.2) 12.) Negative Externalities of Energy Use 13.) Optimal Non-Renewable Resource Management-Present Value and Future Possibilities 14.) Present Use verses future use 15.) Renewable vs. Non-Renewable Natural Resources 16.) Extraction Cost (EC) and use Cost (UC)/TC=EC+UC (F19.7) 17.) Benefits of Efficient Delay of Extraction 18.) Increase in Expected Future Profits (F19.8) 19.) Incomplete versus Complete Property Rights and Excessive Current Use 20.) Conflict Diamonds 21.) Renewable Resources and stong property rights 22.) Forest Management (F19.9), Elephant Preservation 23.) Optimal Fisheries Management (T19.3, F19.10) 24.) Tragedy of the commons/Fishery Collapse 25.) Catch Limits (Total Catch) 26.) Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) 27.) Environmental Performance Index (EPI) / Environmental Quality and Higher GDPs Second Essay: 1.) Income Inequality 2.) Causes: Ability, Education, training Discrimination, Preferences and Risks, Unequal Distribution of Wealth, Market Power, Luck Connections, Misfortune 3.) Household Distribution (T23.1)/ Quintile Distribution (F23.1) 4.) Lorenz Curve (F23.1) 5.) Income Mobility 6.) Income Redistribution/Effects (F23.2) 7.) Equality/ Efficiency Tradeoff 8.) Case for equality (F23.3)/Case for inequality 9.) Inequality over time (T23.2) 10.) Causes of Rising inequality since 1975: Demand for Highly Skilled workers, Demographic Changes, international Trade, Immigration, and Decline of Unionism 11.) Economics of Poverty: Definition, Incidence, Trends, Measurement Issues 12.) US Income Maintenance System: Social Insurance and Public Assistance 13.) Entitlement Programs: Social Security, Unemployment Compensation, Crowding Model (Occupational Segregation) (F23.7) 14.) Discrimination: race, ethnicity, Gender,Age Barriers 15.) Distribution of wealth 16.) Costs of Discrimination: Lower Wages, Less job Access, Less Income, Transfer of Income, Income Inequality, Poverty, Diminishes Economys Total Output and income, Locates Society Inside production Possibilities Curve
