A person's incentive to spend additional money on conspicuous consumption goods will be ________ to the amount and reliability of independent information that people have about his abilities.

The marginal rate of substitution is the

a. quantity of a good a consumer receives for $1 payment b. income a consumer gives up to acquire one unit of the good c. ratio of the prices of two goods d. rate at which the consumer is willing to trade one good for another good e. relative quantity of a good that two consumers trade

Increases in the federal budget deficit from 2007 to 2009 were caused:

A. exclusively by the loss of tax revenue due to recession. B. exclusively by expansionary fiscal policy, as shown through growth in the cyclically adjusted deficit. C. primarily by a combination of recession and expansionary fiscal policy. D. primarily by increased outlays to a rapidly growing number of Social Security recipients.