Online Learning Center Chapter 18

In 2011, what percent of the U.S. population lived in poverty?

15%

The lifetime limit for receiving benefits through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is:

60 months.

Which of the following is not a reason why it is difficult to reach common agreement on exactly what is meant by fairness and equality?

A large part of our society is not concerned about either equality or fairness.

A geometric representation of the share distribution of income among families in a given country at a given time is a:

Lorenz curve

Which of the following lists of countries is in the correct order from the most equal distribution of income to the least equal distribution of income?

Sweden, United States, Brazil

Supplemental Security Income is:

a federal program of cash assistance to the aged, blind, and disabled who pass a means test.

When a tax is regressive, the average tax rate:

decreases as income increases.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is an expenditure program meant to provide:

financial assistance to the poor.

The U.S. official definition of poverty:

has elements of absolute and relative measures.

Economists favor redistributive programs that:

have the least possible effect on incentives.

In the United States, household wealth is:

less equally distributed than family income.

A Lorenz curve of world income would show:

much more income inequality than the Lorenz curve for a particular country

The Medicaid program in the United States:

pays the medical expenses of the poor.

The U.S. tax system is not very effective as a means of redistributing income, because, on the whole, the U.S. tax system is approximately:

proportional.

A primary purpose of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act was to:

reduce the negative incentive effects of welfare

If poverty is defined in absolute terms:

there are, comparatively, few people in poverty in the U.S. today.

A significant redistribution of income may create incentives for people to do all of the following except:

work harder to replace income that is being taken from them.

In 2011, the poverty income threshold level for a family of four was approximately:

$23,000 per year

Which of the following is not a side effect of redistribution programs as discussed by your text?

Taxes and redistribution programs help stimulate the economy and make it more efficient.

If income was distributed equally, the Lorenz curve would:

be a straight line