Deck 14: What Role for the Public Sector

Question 1

What is the largest single component of the British welfare state in terms of spending?

A) Welfare in the narrow sense of cash benefits (social security and tax credits)
B) Education
C) Other public services
D) Health

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The author of the famous blueprint for the post-war welfare state, Social Insurance and Allied Services (1942), was:

A) Thatcher
B) Keynes
C) Beveridge
D) Blair

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Measures of public spending in real terms are calculated:

A) Excluding state pensions and other welfare payments
B) In cash terms not adjusted for inflation
C) As a share of national income
D) In cash terms adjusted for inflation

Answer 3

D

Question 4

When looking at long-run changes in the composition of the public sector workforce, the most important trend seems to be:

A) The increasing dominance of local government
B) The increasing dominance of the education and NHS workforces
C) The increasing dominance of public corporations
D) The increasing dominance of HM Forces

Question 5

The rationale for the welfare state as a correction of market outcomes has a number of elements. Please select all that apply.

A) The state has a responsibility to meet the basic needs of all citizens as social rights
B) Individuals face risks in markets which they cannot be left to bear on their own
C) Individuals are not always the best judges of their own welfare and vulnerable to being taken advantage of in markets
D) Public service ideally embodies superior ethics of care and community

Question 6

In his famous blueprint for the post-war welfare state in Britain, Social Insurance and Allied Services (1942), Beveridge identified 'five giant evils', including: (Please select all that apply.)

A) Want
B) Greed
C) Ignorance
D) Disease

Question 7

The principal reasons for privatization include: (Please select all that apply.)

A) Prevent abuse of market power by natural monopolies
B) To increase efficiency
C) To raise revenue through the proceeds of sales
D) To extend share ownership through sales of shares to members of the public

Question 8

In the context of the global financial crisis the UK government effectively rescued some major banks from collapse by taking them into public ownership. These were: (Please select all that apply.)

A) Barclays
B) Santander
C) Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)
D) Lloyds HBOS

Question 9

The principal reasons for nationalization of business are: (Please select all that apply.)

A) Enable democratic control of business and accountability to the public
B) To extend share ownership through sales of shares to members of the public
C) Prevent abuse of market power by natural monopolies
D) Rescue firms or industries in competitive difficulties or that are 'too big to fail'

Question 10

In the 2017 UK general election campaign the Labour Party made a commitment to 'renationalize' a number of industries, including: (Please select all that apply.)

A) The railways
B) Car industry
C) Water companies
D) The post office

Question 11

According to liberalism the benefits of a market or capitalist system are: (Please select all that apply.)

A) Competition and the profit motive lead firms to strive to improve efficiency
B) Democratic government
C) The market is a system of voluntary exchange
D) Life goes on in a familiar way

Question 12

From a socialist point of view the systemic flaws of capitalism are: (Please select all that apply.)

A) A class-divided society
B) Poor economic growth
C) Inequality
D) Unaccountable economic power

Question 13

The private sector comprises: (Please select all that apply.)

A) Households
B) Privately owned non-profit organizations
C) Private corporations
D) Universities

Question 14

The public sector comprises: (Please select all that apply)

A) Central government
B) Public schools
C) Public corporations
D) Local government

Question 15

The main role of government today being in the provision of goods and services can be referred to in terms of: (Please select all that apply)

A) The state as an economic actor
B) The state performing the role of business
C) The minimal state
D) The state as a mechanism for allocating resources

Question 16

For neoliberals 'government is the problem, not the solution'.

Question 17

UK public spending, as a share of national income, is among the highest of OECD member states.

Question 18

Public spending as a share of national income tends to increase during periods of economic recession.

Question 19

Public sector employment in the UK fell by nearly 1 million between 2009 and 2016.

Question 20

Recent data (2013) comparing the UK with OECD and EU states show that the UK is currently a relatively low spender on healthcare.