Exam 13: Introduction to Public Policy

A public policy is a law, rule, statute, regulation, or order that:

By delivering social benefits through the tax code (such as with the Earned Income Tax Credit or individual coverage subsidies in the case of the Affordable Care Act), delegating authority to the state governments (such as with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), and relying on government contractors or the private sector to provide government benefits, policymakers:

Popularly known as "Obamacare," this law, __________, was created and designed to ensure that tens of millions of Americans who could not afford health insurance would have access to at least basic coverage.It also expanded Medicaid.

The federal government became involved in subsidizing the education of college and university students as a result of the 1944 GI Bill, which ____________.

While the federal government has long given companies and individuals tax deductions or deferrals for economic development purposes, state and local governments have, since at least the 1980s, tried to attract new jobs and amenities through similar means.Professional sports teams, shopping center developers, manufacturers, and the film and television industries have all benefited from the provisions that many analysts call "tax expenditures" and supporters call "tax incentives." Why could such measures be called either of the above?

Under the current Medicare system, the national government exercises very tight control over the quality of the services and the level of fees that health care providers charge.

In 1996, Congress abolished Aid to Families with Dependent Children, a long-running program that provided benefits to families with low or no income, and replaced it with a more restrictive, state block grants-based benefits program called:

Most states set TANF payments high enough to bring families well above the federal poverty line.

Sales taxes, other "consumption" taxes on items including liquor and gasoline, and federal Social Security contributions are called regressive taxes because:

Protecting the environment generally complements the economic goals of policymakers.

The federal government put millions of people back to work during the Great Depression by:

The federal government has the power to break up a monopoly.

Noncontributory programs, such as Medicaid, are implemented in part through means testing, meaning that:

Beginning in 1971, the federal government tried to _______________ by implementing strict controls over what wages people could be paid for their work, what rent their real estate could bring, and what interest they could get on their money.

Market standards that are often provided by governments, such as weights and measures, are important to the functioning of a market economy because:

A voluntary agreement between two or more private persons that facilitates the exchange of property or services, and which is given weight when it can be legally enforced, is called a:

The Federal Reserve has the power to directly increase or restrict the amount of money available to consumers to spend or invest through:

Although its chair and board members are appointed by presidents, in all other concerns the Federal Reserve System (the Fed) is an independent agency.

__________________ refers to government actions or plans, such as taxing or spending measures, that are created with balancing or equalizing a population's distribution of income in mind.

An effective market economy requires governmental rules for the enforcement of contracts.