曼昆《经济学原理》（微观）第五版测试题库(08).doc

Chapter 8 /Application: the Costs of Taxation v 593
Chapter 8
Application: the Costs of Taxation
TRUE/FALSE
1. Total surplus is always equal to the sum of consumer surplus and producer surplus.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Total surplus
MSC: Interpretive
2. Total surplus in a market does not change when the government imposes a tax on that market because the loss of consumer surplus and producer surplus is equal to the gain of government revenue.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Total surplus
MSC: Interpretive
3. When a tax is imposed on buyers, consumer surplus and producer surplus both decrease.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Consumer surplus | Producer surplus
MSC: Interpretive
4. When a tax is imposed on buyers, consumer surplus decreases but producer surplus increases.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Consumer surplus | Producer surplus
MSC: Interpretive
5. When a tax is imposed on sellers, producer surplus decreases but consumer surplus increases.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Consumer surplus | Producer surplus
MSC: Interpretive
6. When a tax is imposed on sellers, consumer surplus and producer surplus both decrease.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Consumer surplus | Producer surplus
MSC: Interpretive
7. Taxes affect market participants by increasing the price paid by the buyer and received by the seller.
ANS: F DIF: 1 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Taxes MSC: Applicative
8. Taxes affect market participants by increasing the price paid by the buyer and decreasing the price received by the seller.
ANS T DIF: 1 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Taxes MSC: Applicative
9. A tax raises the price received by sellers and lowers the price paid by buyers.
ANS: F DIF: 1 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Efficiency MSC: Interpretive
10. Normally, both buyers and sellers of a good become worse off when the good is taxed.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Welfare MSC: Interpretive
11. When a good is taxed, the tax revenue collected by the government equals the decrease in the welfare of buyers and sellers caused by the tax.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Welfare | Tax revenue
MSC: Interpretive
12. A tax places a wedge between the price buyers pay and the price sellers receive.
ANS: T DIF: 1 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Efficiency MSC: Interpretive
13. A tax on a good causes the size of the market to increase.
ANS: F DIF: 1 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Efficiency MSC: Interpretive
14. A tax on a good causes the size of the market to shrink.
ANS: T DIF: 1 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Efficiency MSC: Interpretive
15. When a tax is imposed, the loss of consumer surplus and producer surplus as a result of the tax exceeds the tax revenue collected by the government.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Welfare MSC: Interpretive
16. Economists use the government’s tax revenue to measure the public benefit from a tax.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Welfare MSC: Interpretive
17. Because taxes distort incentives, they cause markets to allocate resources inefficiently.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Efficiency MSC: Interpretive
18. Taxes cause deadweight losses because they prevent buyers and sellers from realizing some of the gains from trade.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Deadweight loss
MSC: Interpretive
19. As the price elasticities of supply and demand increase, the deadweight loss from a tax increases.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Elasticity TOP: Elasticity | Deadweight loss MSC: Applicative
20. The greater the elasticity of demand, the smaller the deadweight loss of a tax.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Elasticity TOP: Elasticity | Deadweight loss MSC: Interpretive
21. The more inelastic are demand and supply, the greater is the deadweight loss of a tax.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Elasticity TOP: Elasticity | Deadweight loss MSC: Applicative
22. The elasticities of the supply and demand curves in the market for cigarettes affect how much a tax distorts that market.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Elasticity TOP: Elasticity | Deadweight loss MSC: Interpretive
23. If a tax did not induce buyers or sellers to change their behavior, it would not cause a deadweight loss.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Deadweight loss
MSC: Interpretive
24. The most important tax in the U.S. economy is the tax on corporations’ profits.
ANS: F DIF: 1 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Labor MSC: Definitional
25. The Social Security tax, and to a large extent, the federal income tax, are labor taxes.
ANS: T DIF: 1 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Labor MSC: Interpretive
26. Taxes on labor tend to increase the number of hours that people choose to work.
ANS: F DIF: 1 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic

LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Labor MSC: Interpretive
27. Taxes on labor tend to encourage the elderly to retire early.
ANS: T DIF: 1 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Labor MSC: Interpretive
28. Taxes on labor tend to encourage second earners to stay at home rather than work in the labor force.
ANS: T DIF: 1 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Labor MSC: Interpretive
29. Economists disagree on whether labor taxes have a small or large deadweight loss.
ANS: T DIF: 1 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Labor | Deadweight loss
MSC: Definitional
30. The demand for bread is less elastic than the demand for donuts; hence, a tax on bread will create a larger deadweight loss than will the same tax on donuts, other things equal.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Elasticity TOP: Elasticity | Deadweight loss MSC: Applicative

31. The larger the deadweight loss from taxation, the larger the cost of government programs.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Deadweight loss
MSC: Interpretive
32. A tax on insulin is likely to cause a very large deadweight loss to society.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Elasticity TOP: Deadweight loss | Elasticity MSC: Applicative
33. The deadweight loss of a tax rises even more rapidly than the size of the tax.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Deadweight loss
MSC: Interpretive
34. As the size of a tax increases, the government's tax revenue rises, then falls.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Laffer curve MSC: Interpretive
35. Tax revenues increase in direct proportion to increases in the size of the tax.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Tax revenue MSC: Interpretive
36. If the size of a tax doubles, the deadweight loss doubles.
ANS: F DIF: 3 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Deadweight loss
MSC: Applicative
37. If the size of a tax triples, the deadweight loss increases by a factor of six.
ANS: F DIF: 3 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Deadweight loss
MSC: Applicative
38. A tax on unimproved land falls entirely on landowners because the supply of land is perfectly inelastic.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Land tax MSC: Interpretive
39. Because the supply of land is perfectly elastic, the deadweight loss of a tax on land is very large.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Elasticity TOP: Land tax | Deadweight loss MSC: Interpretive
40. Economist Arthur Laffer made the argument that tax rates in the United States were so high that reducing the rates would increase tax revenue.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Laffer curve MSC: Definitional
41. The Laffer curve is the curve showing how tax revenue varies as the size of the tax varies.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Laffer curve MSC: Definitional
42. The result of the large tax cuts in the first Reagan Administration demonstrated very convincingly that Arthur Laffer was correct when he asserted that cuts in tax rates would increase tax revenue.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Laffer curve MSC: Interpretive
43. The idea that tax cuts would increase the quantity of labor supplied, thus increasing tax revenue, became know as supply-side economics.
ANS: T DIF: 2 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Supply-side economics
MSC: Definitional
44. The Laffer curve illustrates how taxes in markets with greater elasticities of demand compare to taxes in markets with smaller elasticities of supply.
ANS: F DIF: 2 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Laffer curve MSC: Definitional
45. The more elastic are supply and demand in a market, the greater are the distortions caused by a tax on that market, and the more likely it is that a tax cut in that market will raise tax revenue.
ANS: T DIF: 3 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Elasticity TOP: Elasticity | Deadweight loss MSC: Applicative
46. When the government imposes taxes on buyers and sellers of a good, society loses some of the benefits of market efficiency.
ANS: T DIF: 1 REF: 8-4 NAT: Analytic
LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Efficiency MSC: Interpretive
SHORT ANSWER
1. Suppose the government levies a tax of the vertical distance from point A to point B. Using the graph shown, determine the value of each of the following:
a.
equilibrium price before the tax
b.
consumer surplus before the tax
c.
producer surplus before the tax
d.
total surplus before the tax
e.
consumer surplus after the tax
f.
producer surplus after the tax
g.
total tax revenue to the government
h.
total surplus (consumer surplus+producer surplus+tax revenue) after the tax
i.
deadweight loss

ANS:
a.
$10
b.
$3,600
c.
$2,400
d.
$6,000
e.
$900
f.
$600
g.
$3,000
h.
$4,500
i.
$1,500

DIF: 3 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic LOC: Supply and demand

TOP: Welfare MSC: Applicative
2. John has been in the habit of mowing Willa's lawn each week for $20. John's opportunity cost is $15, and Willa would be willing to pay $25 to have her lawn mowed. What is the maximum tax the government can impose on lawn mowing without discouraging John and Willa from continuing their mutually beneficial arrangement?
ANS:
If the tax is less than $10, there will exist a price at which both John and Willa will still benefit from the lawn-mowing arrangement. If the tax is $10, a price can be set which will leave John and Willa neither better off nor worse off from the lawn-mowing arrangement. If the tax is greater than $10, all possible prices will leave at least one of the parties worse off from the lawn-mowing arrangement.
DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic LOC: Supply and demand
TOP: Efficiency MSC: Applicative
3. Use the following graph shown to fill in the table that follows.

WITHOUT TAX
WITH TAX
CHANGE
Consumer surplus

Producer surplus

Tax revenue

Total surplus

ANS:

WITHOUT TAX
WITH TAX
CHANGE
Consumer surplus
A+B+C
A
–(B+C)
Producer surplus
D+F+G
F
–(D+G)
Tax revenue
None
B+D
(B+D)
Total surplus
A+B+C+D+F+G
A+B+D+F
–(C+G)

DIF: 2 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic LOC: Supply and demand
TOP: Welfare MSC: Applicative
4. Suppose that instead of a supply-demand diagram, you are given the following information:
Qs = 100 + 3P
Qd = 400 - 2P
From this information compute equilibrium price and quantity. Now suppose that a tax is placed on buyers so that
Qd = 400 - (2P + T).
If T = 15, solve for the new equilibrium price and quantity. (Note: P is the price received by sellers and P + T is the price paid by buyers.) Compare these answers for equilibrium price and quantity with your first answers. What does this show you?
ANS:
Prior to the tax, the equilibrium price would be $60 and the equilibrium quantity would be 280. After the tax is imposed, P, the price received by sellers would be $57. The price paid by buyers would be $72. The quantity sold would be 271. The new answer shows three obvious facts. First, buyers pay more with a tax. Second, sellers receive less with a tax. Third, the size of the market shrinks when a tax is imposed on a product.
DIF: 3 REF: 8-1 NAT: Analytic LOC: Supply and demand
TOP: Taxes MSC: Analytical
5. Using demand and supply diagrams, show the difference in deadweight loss between (a) a market with inelastic demand and supply and (b) a market with elastic demand and supply.
ANS:

DIF: 2 REF: 8-2 NAT: Analytic LOC: Elasticity
TOP: Deadweight loss | Elasticity MSC: Applicative
6. Illustrate on three demand-and-supply graphs how the size of a tax (small, medium and large) can alter total revenue and deadweight loss.
ANS:

DIF: 2 REF: 8-3 NAT: Analytic LOC: Supply and demand
TOP: Deadweight loss MSC: Applicative
Sec00 - Application: The Costs of Taxation
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. In 1776, the American Revolution was sparked by anger over
a.
the extravagant lifestyle of British royalty.
b.
the crimes of British soldiers stationed in the American colonies.
c.
British taxes imposed on the American colonies.
d.
the failure of the British to protect American colonists from attack by hostile Native Americans.

ANS: C DIF: 1 REF: 8-0
NAT: Analytic LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Taxes
MSC: Definitional
2. Anger over British taxes played a significant role in bringing about the
a.
election of John Adams as the second American president.
b.
American Revolution.
c.
War of 1812.
d.
“no new taxes” clause in the U.S. Constitution.

ANS: B DIF: 1 REF: 8-0
NAT: Analytic LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Taxes
MSC: Definitional
3. Who once said that taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society?
a.
Aristotle
b.
George Washington
c.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
d.
Ronald Reagan

ANS: C DIF: 1 REF: 8-0
NAT: Analytic LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Taxes
MSC: Definitional
4. Who once said that taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society?
a.
Milton Friedman
b.
Theodore Roosevelt
c.
Arthur Laffer
d.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

ANS: D DIF: 1 REF: 8-0
NAT: Analytic LOC: Supply and demand TOP: Taxes
MSC: Definitional
5. To fully understand how taxes affect economic well-being, we must
a.
assume that economic well-being is not affected if all tax revenue is spent on goods and services for the people who are being taxed.
b.
compare the taxes raised in the Un