The Curmudgeonly Professor

Economics Quiz for November 18 2010

Use a bluebook and a ball point pen.  Be sure to justify your answers analytically and factually.

Here are the questions:

•      Explain why the U.S. recently experienced a near financial collapse.
•     Discuss the likely effects on the U.S. and global economy of a serious financial collapse.
•     Discuss the effectiveness of government intervention in the financial system by shoring up  threatened financial institutions.
• What is the most likely scenario that would have occurred if the U.S. government had not intervened in the banking system?

You have twenty four hours to finish your exam.

 

Econ 110 Exam (Pop Quiz)

We have gone on far too long without an exam to see if you know anything, or if you have learned anything.  Please keep your eyes on your own papers.  No answers written on your sleeve or the palm of your hand.  No cell phones, PDAs, Blackberries, laptops.  Do not call your mother during the exam.  Be specific in your answers.  Here we go:

1. Define socialism.  Give specific examples of socialism.  Give specific examples of misuse of the term socialism.
2. Define communism.  Explain the differences among communism, capitalism, and socialism.
3. What is a public good?  Why are public goods not supplied in adequate quantities by the private sector?
4. Name five public goods that would not be supplied adequately by the private market.
5. Why are private markets often regulated?
6. What economic problems can result in deregulation of private financial markets?
7. Why are safety nets important in the financial industry?
8. Why does $1 of public spending have a larger impact on the economy than $1 of tax reduction?
9. What is a progressive tax system?  Why do we have a progressive tax system in the U.S.?
10. What are the opportunity costs of inadequate systems of health insurance?
11. Why can we never have perfection in an economic world?

These questions are just the beginning.  If you do not know the answers to these questions, look up the answers.

The Curmudgeonly Professor's Friday Quiz

Take out paper and pencil, class, we are having a pop quiz.  The Curmudgeonly Professor is sleepy this morning because he stayed up late watching Leno and Letterman and didn't take time to look up the topic for the lecture today.  Here are the questions:

1. What teams just played in the Super Bowl?
2. Which team won? 
3. Who played in the World Series this year? 
4. Who won? 
5. Who won the World Series of 1908? 
6. Who played in last year's (2008) Super Bowl and who won? 
7. Why should marginal costs equal marginal revenue at the point of greatest profit or least loss for the firm? 
8. What is the principle of Diminishing Marginal Utility? 
9. Who cares? 
10. Do you plan to move in with your parents after college? 
11. Do you plan to get married by the time you are 30, take out bankruptcy, and then move in with your parents with your three darling children? 
12. Which do you prefer:  (a) dating, or (b) hanging out?  Explain. 
13. Are your pants cuffs frayed? 
14. Did you go to Ace Hardware and buy a pair of suspenders? 
15. Do you text, yap on your cell phone, or hold a dog on your lap while you drive? 
16. Do you belong to Facebook, Myspace, or other social networking group? 
17. Do you regularly, hourly, let your hundreds of "friends" know that you "are tired, discouraged, happy, hungry, eating Ramen noodles, watching American Idol, or that you are dropping out of school and joining the army?" 
18. Do you have your very own blog? 
19. How often do you post your latest precious thoughts and actions on your blog? 
20. Did you call your mother this week? 
21. Do you know where your economics textbook is physically located? 
22. When was the last time you opened said textbook? 
23. Do you plan to attend economics class tomorrow? 
24. Do you know when the next econ exam is? 
25. Did you know that the next exam is right now? 
26. Did you plan to start studying at 1:00 a.m. and then calling me in the morning at 6:00 a.m. to tell me you are too tired to take the exam?  
27. Extra credit:  Who is the new President of the United States? 
28. Who is the best teacher you have ever had in college? 
29. Do you think your test scores are an accurate indicator of your true level of intelligence and ability? Why or why not?
30. Are you majoring in economics?  Why or why not? 
31. Where do you think you will find a job with your C minus GPA when you graduate 
32. What is the make and model of the car you are driving around campus?  
33. How many hours a week do you actually study? 
34. How much time do you spend in the Cougareat (student center) watching either (a) the girls or (b) the boys go by? 
35. How many hours a week do you devote to intramural athletics?  To watching the Utah Jazz?  To texting? To studying?  Provide an economic justification for your answers. 

Be sure to write legibly and do not copy your neighbor's answers which are probably more likely to be wrong than whatever you can come up with.  Remember, if you do not pass this course you will have to repeat it next year and the Curmudgeonly Professor will not have learned any new jokes in the meantime.  The exams, however, will not change, although the answers will.  Good luck.