1.4 Government Intervention

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What are the 7 different ways that the government intervene to solve market failure?
Indirect taxes
Subsidies
Max/min prices
State provision of public goods
Provision of information
Tradable pollution permits
Regulation
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What can indirect taxes solve?
Negative externalities
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What are the advantages of indirect taxes?
Social welfare is maximised
Government revenue increases
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What are the disadvantages of indirect taxes?
It will not have an effect on goods with inelastic PED
Taxes are politically unpopular
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What can subsidies solve?
Positive externalities
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What are the advantages of subsidies?
Social welfare is maximised
Can encourage small businesses
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What are the disadvantages of subsidies?
Expensive for the government, and a high opportunity cost
Firms can become over reliant
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Where are maximum prices set?
Below the market equilibrium
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Where at minimum prices set?
Above the market equilibrium
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What goods are maximum prices imposed on?
Goods with positive externalities
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What goods are minimum prices imposed on?
Goods with negative externalities
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What are the advantages of imposing max/min prices?
Brings about a level of equality, a more people will be able to afford the good (max)
Increase social welfare
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What are the disadvantages of imposing max/min prices?
Will not have an effect on goods with inelastic PED (mininum)
Difficult for government to know where to set the prices
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What are tradable pollution permits?
Purchasable permits which allow the owner to have emission up to a certain amount
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How are tradable pollution permits supposed to reduce pollution?
In order to reduce costs in the future, companies would invest in greener technology
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What are the advantages of pollution permits?
Raise government revenue
Guaranteed that pollution will decrease as the number of permits is limited
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What are the disadvantages of pollution permits?
Expensive to police and monitor
Firms may absorb the cost of the permit and pass it on to their consumers
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How can state provision of public goods correct market failure?
The state is providing goods which otherwise would be provided. This prevents the under provision of public goods
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What are the advantages of the state providing public goods?
Brings about a level of equality, everyone has access to the public goods
Improved social welfare
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What are the disadvantages of the state providing public goods?
Expensive, therefore a high opportunity cost
The government may produce the wrong combination of goods as the market mechanism is not involved
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How can the provision of information correct market failure?
It can help consumers make informed decisions
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What are the advantages of the provision of information?
Helps consumers act rationally
Best used alongside other policies as economists may be able to predict consumer actions more easily
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What are the disadvantages of the provision of information?
Expensive and therefore high opportunity cost
The government may not have all the information
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How can regulation correct market failure?
The government are able to impose laws and caps on goods to make sure social welfare is maximised
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What are the advantages of regulation?
Social welfare is maximised
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What are the disadvantages of regulation?
Laws can be expensive to monitor, incurring a high opportunity cost
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What is government failure?
When government intervention lead to market failure and net welfare loss
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What are the 4 different ways government failure can occur?
Distortion of price signals
Unintended consequences
Excessive administration costs
Information
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What is the distortion of price signals?
When the government change price signals and distort the market mechanism
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How can the distortion of price signals lead to government failure?
The market is acting on misinformation and therefore can lead to inefficient allocation of resources
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How can unintended consequences cause government failure?
When consumers or producers act in unexpected ways and cause unintended consequences
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How can excessive administration costs cause government failure?
The cost of administering the policy may not be worth the increased social welfare
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How can information gaps cause government failure?
Some policies might be decided based on limited information
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What can indirect taxes solve?

Back

Negative externalities

Card 3

Front

What are the advantages of indirect taxes?

Back

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Card 4

Front

What are the disadvantages of indirect taxes?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What can subsidies solve?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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