When President Gerald Ford called inflation 'public enemy number one' during the 1970s, it was in response to what economic event?

Correct answer: The overall level of prices more than doubling.

Explanation

This question tests recall of a historical detail used to illustrate the significance of inflation as a policy problem under Principle 9.

Other questions

Question 1

According to Principle 1: People Face Trade-offs, what is the primary reason that making decisions requires trading off one goal against another?

Question 2

What classic trade-off is often used to illustrate the conflict between national defense spending and domestic spending?

Question 3

When the government tries to cut the economic pie into more equal slices, what often happens to the size of the pie?

Question 4

What is the opportunity cost of an item?

Question 5

According to the textbook, what is often the largest single cost of a college education for most students?

Question 6

What term do economists use to describe a small incremental adjustment to an existing plan of action?

Question 7

An airline's cost to fly a 200-seat plane is 100,000 dollars. A standby passenger is willing to pay 300 dollars. According to the principle of marginal thinking, the airline should sell the ticket if:

Question 8

What is something that induces a person to act, such as the prospect of a punishment or a reward?

Question 9

According to the analysis of auto-safety laws on page 33, what is an unintended consequence of laws requiring seat belts?

Question 10

What is the primary reason that trade between two countries can make each country better off?

Question 11

What is the term for an economy that allocates resources through the decentralized decisions of many firms and households as they interact in markets?

Question 12

What famous observation did economist Adam Smith make in his 1776 book, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations?

Question 13

According to Principle 7, what is a primary reason that we need government in a market economy?

Question 14

What is the term for a situation in which the market on its own fails to produce an efficient allocation of resources?

Question 15

What is the primary determinant of the large variations in living standards among countries and over time?

Question 16

In 2008, what was the approximate average income for an American, a Mexican, and a Nigerian, respectively?

Question 17

What is the definition of inflation?

Question 18

According to Principle 9, what is the primary culprit in almost all cases of large or persistent inflation?

Question 19

In the historical example of Germany in the early 1920s, what was the relationship between the rate of price increases and the growth in the quantity of money?

Question 20

According to Principle 10, society faces a short-run trade-off between which two economic outcomes?

Question 21

The irregular and largely unpredictable fluctuations in economic activity, such as employment and production, are known as what?

Question 22

What does the Greek word 'oikonomos,' the origin of the word 'economy,' mean?

Question 23

What is the definition of scarcity?

Question 24

Which of the following best defines 'efficiency' in an economic context?

Question 25

What is the primary function of prices in a market economy?

Question 26

Why do economists generally oppose policies like rent control?

Question 27

The ability of a single economic actor (or small group) to have a substantial influence on market prices is called what?

Question 28

What is defined as 'the quantity of goods and services produced from each unit of labor input'?

Question 29

If the government doubles the tax on gasoline, can one be sure that the revenue from the gasoline tax will rise?

Question 30

In the short run, what is the primary effect of a government policy that increases the amount of money in the economy?

Question 31

What does the 'invisible hand' of the marketplace rely on to function correctly?

Question 32

In the Case Study on gasoline prices, which of the following was NOT mentioned as a response to higher gas prices from 2005 to 2008?

Question 33

What is the economic rationale for why water is cheap, while diamonds are expensive?

Question 34

Historically, what has been the approximate annual growth rate of incomes in the United States, after adjusting for the cost of living?

Question 35

What is the primary way policymakers can boost living standards?

Question 36

The three main categories of economic principles discussed in the chapter are:

Question 37

A government policy that increases the amount of money in the economy may lead to a short-run decrease in unemployment, but at the cost of what long-run effect?

Question 38

What is the reason that families and nations both benefit from the ability to trade with one another?

Question 39

The failure of communism is cited in the chapter as an example of the failure of which economic system?

Question 40

An entertainment company will not produce DVDs if too many potential customers make illegal copies. This is an example of a market failure caused by inadequate protection of what?

Question 42

The three broad reasons to study economics, as outlined in the preface, are to understand the world, to be a more astute economic participant, and to...

Question 43

If a student can spend her time studying economics or psychology, what is the trade-off she faces for every hour she spends studying one subject?

Question 44

What is the relationship between a nation's productivity and its standard of living?

Question 45

According to the 'In the News' article 'Incentive Pay', how did paying bus drivers by the passenger instead of by the hour affect their behavior in Chile?

Question 46

Which of the Ten Principles are grouped under the category 'How People Interact'?

Question 47

The 'In the News' article on page 40, 'Why You Should Study Economics', uses the 'broken window fallacy' to illustrate what economic concept?

Question 48

When economists study how the decisions of many individual households and firms interact in the marketplace, what are they studying?

Question 49

The fact that policymakers can influence the combination of inflation and unemployment in the short run is an example of which principle?

Question 50

In the summary table on page 44, 'Trade Can Make Everyone Better Off' is listed under which main heading?