bcaplan@gmu.edu
http://www.bcaplan.com
Econ
410
HW#2 (Please TYPE all answers; answer questions
13 and 14, plus EIGHT
other questions of your choice).
1. What probability would you assign to each of
the following?
a.
You get an A in this class.
b.
You become best friends with someone you meet in this class.
c.
You live to be 90 years old.
d.
You oversleep on the day of the midterm.
2. Diagram each of the following for an
individual, and note his or her equilibrium level of political knowledge:
a.
The MC of acquiring political knowledge is always positive and the
benefits are always 0.
b. The MC of acquiring political
knowledge is negative at first, and the benefits are always 0.
c.
The MC of acquiring political knowledge is always positive, but the
benefits are positive at first.
3. Name what are, for you, the five most memorable
actions Clinton took. How many of these
were, in your judgment, important policy decisions? Why the contrast? (1-2 sentences)
4. Diagram the public goods nature of political
information. Be careful to draw the S
curve, the D curve, and the SB curve in a sensible way.
5. If the entire U.S. population were given a
test of general political knowledge, what percentile do you think you
would get? Why do you think you would do
better or worse than average (50th percentile)? (1-2 sentences)
6. Give an original real-world application of
the theory of optimal punishment. (3-4 sentences)
7. Throw 2 6-sided dice and add them. Then throw 8 6-sided dice and add them. How far off from average were your two rolls
in percentage terms? How does
this illustrate the Principle of Aggregation?
(Example: If an average roll were 8, and you got a 6, you were
(8-6)/8=25% off from average in percentage terms).
8. Name one political issue where you think
random errors largely "cancel each other out." If a referendum were held on this issue, how
would the vote shares and outcome differ from a world with
perfect information? (2-3 sentences)
9. Suppose that 80% of voters are tenants, and
20% are landlords. Rent control makes
each landlord $1000 poorer and each tenant $100 richer. Carefully explain why the median voter result
(with selfish voting) will be inefficient.
(2-3 sentences)
10. In the preceeding example, what would the
efficiency effect of a 90% super-majority rule be, if there is initially no
rent control? (2-3 sentences)
11. How could log-rolling be
efficiency-enhancing? How could it be
inefficiency-enhancing? Give two
contrasting examples and explain the difference. (3-4 sentences)
12. According to the SIVH, who seems likely to
favor and oppose the following programs?
a.
Welfare
b.
Foreign aid
c.
Environmental protection
d.
NAFTA
13. Name one issue where, from your own personal
experience, the SIVH works reasonably well, and another where it works
poorly. Can you think of any fundamental
way that these issues differ? (3-4 sentences)
14. What account best describes your political
beliefs? The SIVH? Sociotropic voting? Ideological voting? Group-interest? Give some specific examples. (1 paragraph)
15. Can
you place yourself on a simple liberal-conservative spectrum? If so, where?
If not, what key elements of your beliefs does this spectrum fail to
capture? (1 paragraph)
16. Carefully explain why Jane Fonda can be rich,
Democratic, and highly selfish at the same time. What is the expected cost for her if
she votes Democratic rather than Republican?
(2-3 sentences)