Harry Truman is credited with the statement, "Give me a one-armed economist," because economists are likely to say, "On the one hand, . . . on the other hand." Why do economists "waffle" more than physicists or chemists?
Economists describe human behavior, which cannot be predicted as accurately as physical or chemical reactions. Waffling can be found at the frontiers of all sciences, but the media pay more attention to economic debates, such as the effect of supply-side tax cuts on tax revenues, than to the debates of physicists (are quarks the smallest particle of matter?) or chemists. Value judgments also play a larger role in economic debates, since economics often deals with matters that directly affect the welfare of large numbers of people.
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The natural employment deficit ________ be used to determine the effectiveness of discretionary fiscal policy actions because ________
A) cannot; it excludes non-discretionary spending changes B) can; it includes non-discretionary spending changes C) cannot; it includes non-discretionary spending changes D) can; it excludes automatic stabilization expenditures
Which of the following activities will generate a negative externality?
a. A beekeeper keeping bees for honey b. Inoculations for communicable diseases c. Research and development activities of a firm d. A chemical factory set up in a residential area e. Improvement in education facilities