wayground logo

Free Printable Worksheets

Font size

S
M
L
XL
Worksheets

Government Failure - Economics

Total questions: 10

Worksheet time: 7mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Select the most appropriate methods of government intervention to correct the market failure associated with missing markets

a)

subsidies

b)

direct provision

c)

indirect taxation

d)

minimum prices

2.

Select the correct group of characteristics associated with merit goods

a)

non-excludable, non-rival, non-exhaustible

b)

non-excludable, non-rival, non-diminishable

c)

excludable, non-rival, non-exhaustible

d)

non-excludable, exhaustible, rival

3.

Select the two suitable interventions that are most likely to achieve the government objective of extending property rights in the event of oil pollution of the seas caused by a ship running aground off the UK coast.

a)

Legislation

b)

Compulsory Insurance

c)

Compensation schemes

d)

Direct taxes

4.

Which "law" explains why government interventions are inevitably limited in their total success?

a)

the law of diminishing returns

b)

the law of unintended consequences

c)

the law of diminishing utility

d)

the law of aprocryphal outcomes

5.

Which of the following government interventions can be seen as government failure as a result of their being inadequate or imperfect information available to the government at the time the decisions were being made?

a)

The Brexit referendum

b)

The decision to build the high speed railway HS2

c)

Joining the EU common fisheries policy in the 1970s

d)

Commissioning the new nuclear at Hinckley Point

6.

Why might the introduction of Minimum Wage legislation distort the labour market in a way that could be described as government failure?

a)

It way help to alleviate the problems associated with in-work poverty

b)

It may give the unemployed an incentive to take a low-paid job

c)

It may result in higher levels of unemployment that disproportionately impacts the low-paid

d)

It may improve productivity as firms invest in automation

7.

In what two ways might the decision to maintain the annual increase in State pensions (by the higher measure of inflation, RPI), be an example of government failure?

a)

The Law of Unintended Consequences

b)

Excessive administrative costs

c)

Information gaps

d)

Conflicting objectives

e)

Public choice theory

8.

Which of the following might be considered as an example of Public Choice Theory

a)

Governments funding the expansion of Heathrow Airport

b)

Allowing bankers to self-regulate their own industry's behaviour

c)

Always weighing up the options so that decisions inevitably maximise economic welfare

d)

Ensuring interventions always represent value for money

9.

Which unintended consequence made the UK government's decision to intervene in the tobacco market in 2007 (banning smoking in public places and increasing tobacco duty) a monumental fail?

a)

The decrease in over 16s smoking decreased from 21% to 17%

b)

21% of tobacco consumed in the UK is smuggled into the country

c)

The fall in respiratory illness reported by bar workers following the ban

d)

The decrease in the incidence of men dying from lung cancer

10.

Which of the politicians pictured might be accused of using high public office to maximise their own welfare at the expense of the economic welfare of the country they have led?

a)
b)
c)
d)