Lane Kenworthy
Winter 2018-19
HEALTH CARE
1. In the Sick Around the World video, T.R. Reid examines the health care systems of which countries?
a. United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland
b. Canada, Sweden, France, Australia, and South Korea
2. In the Sick Around the World video, the health care systems in all five nations have
a. Health insurance for the entire population
b. Lower health care spending than the United States
c. Both A and B
3. In “Health Care,” I say reasons why America’s health care system is so expensive include all of the following except
a. Payers are fragmented
b. “Fee for service” payment
c. Government plays no role in providing health insurance
d. Some providers have a near-monopoly position
4. True or false: According to the Sick Around the World video, the upside of other rich nations’ health care systems is that everyone gets good care for free or low cost, while the downside in all of them is long waiting times for urgent medical procedures.
a. True
b. False
5. True or false: In “Health Care,” I say the health care experience in the United States and other affluent countries teaches us that government tends to be better than markets at providing all types of goods and services.
a. True
b. False
FAMILY
1. In “Families,” I show that as a society gets richer, more women stay in school longer and have paid jobs and people attach greater importance to individual freedom and choice. I say this is likely to
a. Increase marriage
b. Decrease marriage
2. In “Families,” I show that which of the following changes has occurred in the US since the 1960s?
a. People get married later
b. More married couples get divorced
c. More children are born out-of-wedlock
d. All of the above
3. In “Families,” I say that which of the following characterizes cohabitation trends in the US?
a. Marriage is being replaced by successful long-term cohabitation
b. Relationships among cohabiting couples tend not to last
4. In “Families,” I show that the weakening of family has occurred more among those
a. With a four-year college degree or more
b. Without a four-year college degree
5. True or false: In “Families,” I say that policy efforts to increase marriage — increasing financial incentives, offering intensive marital counseling sessions and support services — have so far largely failed.
a. True
b. False
EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY
1. In “Equality of Opportunity,” I report that an American who grew up in a family in the bottom fifth of incomes between the mid-1960s and the mid-1980s has what chance of reaching the middle fifth or higher in adulthood?
a. 30%
b. 60%
2. In “Equality of Opportunity,” I say the reasons why Americans from low-income families tend to have lower income when they become adults include which of the following?
a. Poorer children are less likely to grow up in a home with both of their original parents
b. Low-income parents are more likely to be anxious and stressed
c. Children in low-income families are more likely to grow up in a neighborhood with high crime, with few employed adults, and with weak organizations
d. All of the above
3. True or false: In “Equality of Opportunity,” I say that eight studies have tried to directly measure change in relative intergenerational income mobility in recent decades, and all of them conclude that the opportunity gap stemming from family background has widened (inequality of opportunity has increased).
a. True
b. False
4. In “Early Education,” I say that, on average, child care in the United States costs approximately
a. $1,000 a year
b. $10,000 a year
5. True or false: In “Early Education,” I say one reason to suspect that early education will help to equalize opportunity is that K-12 schooling does so.
a. True
b. False
TOLERANCE
1. In “Tolerance,” I show that according to public opinion survey data, citizens in rich countries today tend to be
a. Equally tolerant of all minority and controversial groups
b. Less tolerant of some groups than others
2. True or false: In “Tolerance,” I show that according to public opinion data, Americans tend to be less tolerant than their counterparts in any other rich nation.
a. True
b. False
3. True or false: In “Tolerance,” I show that according to public opinion data, Americans have tended to become more tolerant in recent decades.
a. True
b. False
4. In “Tolerance,” I show that Muslims are one group toward which tolerance hasn’t increased in recent decades. We know this from data on
a. Public opinion
b. Hate crimes
c. Both A and B
5. In “Tolerance,” I say the main cause of rising tolerance among Americans since the 1970s is
a. Americans have gotten more affluent
b. Americans have gotten better educated
c. Contact among groups has increased
d. A culture shift
MIGRATION
1. Ai Weiwei’s film Human Flow focuses mainly on the flow of people in recent years
a. From Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan to other Middle Eastern countries and Western Europe
b. From Mexico and Central American countries to the United States
c. From western China to eastern China
2. According to Ai Weiwei’s film Human Flow, the number of people in the world who have been displaced from their homes is approximately
a. 6 million
b. 60 million
3. True or false: In “The Death of the Most Generous Nation on Earth,” James Traub says the experience of Sweden, the United States, and other rich nations that have let in large numbers of immigrants since World War II tells us that refugees and their descendants tend to never assimilate. Instead, they remain in a largely separate economic and social sphere.
a. True
b. False
4. In “The Death of the Most Generous Nation on Earth,” James Traub suggests that the new struggles Sweden is facing with refugees stem from the fact that
a. The number of incoming refugees is far greater than in earlier eras
b. The cultural differences between recent refugee immigrants and mainstream Swedes are greater than in earlier eras
c. Both A and B
5. In “The Death of the Most Generous Nation on Earth,” James Traub says the rich democratic country that has come closest to Sweden in its welcoming of large numbers of refugees in recent years is
a. Denmark
b. Germany
c. Hungary
d. United States
ECONOMIC SECURITY
1. In “Social Programs,” I show that in many of the rich democratic nations, the size and generosity of public social programs
a. Increased steadily from 1930 to today
b. Increased from 1930 to 1985 and then held constant
2. In “Social Programs,” I say that reforms of public social programs in the rich democratic nations have increasingly aimed to
a. Reduce employment
b. Increase employment
3. In “Social Programs,” I show that compared to other rich democratic countries, the US has a low level of _______ spending on social programs.
a. Public
b. Private
c. Both A and B
4. In “Social Programs,” I show that in the United States the average benefit level for _______ has decreased significantly since the 1970s.
a. Unemployment insurance
b. Disability (SSDI and SSI)
c. AFDC/TANF
d. Food Stamps
5. In “How Rich Countries Lift Up the Poor,” I say that since the late 1970s the main source of rising income for low-income households in most affluent nations has been increases in
a. Wages
b. Employment
c. Government benefits
TAXES
1. In “Taxes,” I show that in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s tax revenues as a share of GDP
a. Increased in most rich democracies
b. Held constant in the United States
c. Both A and B
2. In “Taxes,” I say the main way that taxes reduce income inequality in rich democratic nations is
a. By taking more money from the rich than from the poor
b. By providing revenues that fund government transfers
3. In “Taxes,” I show that the tax system is _______ progressive in the United States than in Sweden.
a. More
b. Less
4. In “Taxes,” I say the evidence from the rich democratic countries
a. Strongly suggests that a higher top tax rate reduces the top 1%’s income share
b. Suggests that a higher top tax rate has little or no effect on the top 1%’s income share
c. Doesn’t give us a clear answer about the effect of top tax rates on the top 1%’s income share
5. In “Taxes,” I say the experience of the world’s rich democratic countries over the past century suggests that higher taxes tend to _______ economic growth.
a. Reduce
b. Have little or no impact on
GOVERNMENT
1. In “The Real Debate,” Yuval Levin says the main impediment to community in the United States is
a. Crime
b. Income inequality
c. Government
2. In “The Real Debate,” Yuval Levin reviews evidence supporting the hypothesis that voluntary associations are weakened by which of the following government programs?
a. Social Security
b. Public schools
c. Medicaid
d. None of the above
3. True or false: In “Is Big Government Bad for Freedom, Civil Society, and Happiness?,” I show that people in countries with higher taxation and government spending tend to see themselves as less free to do what they wish with their lives.
a. True
b. False
4. In “Is Big Government Bad for Freedom, Civil Society, and Happiness?,” I show that fewer Swedes than Americans say they are an active member of a civic group or organization. The gap in active membership between the two countries is about
a. 4 percentage points
b. 40 percentage points
5. True or false: In “Is Big Government Bad for Freedom, Civil Society, and Happiness?,” I show that in countries with higher levels of taxation and government spending, life satisfaction tends to be lower.
a. True
b. False
WORK
1. In “Employment,” I show that the employment rate in most rich democratic nations has _______ in recent decades.
a. Increased
b. Decreased
2. In “Employment,” I say that which of the following is a more important contributor to recent employment trends in the United States?
a. Imports from China
b. Our lack of family-friendly programs such as paid parental leave
3. In “Employment,” I say a key cause of the falling employment rate among 25-to-54-year-old American men has been
a. Rising employment among women
b. Video games
4. True or false: In “Employment,” I show that countries with less income inequality have tended to have lower employment rates and slower employment growth than those with more income inequality.
a. True
b. False
5. In “Employment,” I say that in coming decades the key challenge related to employment will be to
a. Create jobs
b. Ensure that employees have adequate income, decent working conditions, and opportunity for mobility
EDUCATION
1. In “What Good Is Education?,” I say the best measure of educational attainment is
a. Years of schooling completed
b. Skill assessments
c. It depends
2. In “What Good Is Education?,” I conclude that education tends to
a. Increase earnings and income for individuals
b. Increase economic growth for already-rich nations
c. Both A and B
3. True or false: In “What Good Is Education?,” I conclude that education is good for individuals on virtually all outcomes.
a. True
b. False
4. True or false: In “What Good Is Education?,” I conclude that education is good for societies (countries) on virtually all outcomes.
a. True
b. False
5. In “What Good Is Education?,” I say the chief aim of schooling is to
a. Enhance people’s ability to make informed choices about life goals and to effectively pursue those goals
b. Increase economic growth
SAFETY
1. In “Safety,” I describe Steven Pinker’s book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, on trends in violence over several thousand years. True or false: Pinker finds that violence increased slowly for most of human history and then decreased sharply since the end of World War II.
a. True
b. False
2. In “Safety,” I say that according to Steven Pinker in his book The Better Angels of Our Nature, the key to reducing violence has been
a. Government
b. Commerce
c. Information, knowledge, and science
d. All of the above
3. In “Safety,” I show that violent crime in the United States
a. Increased sharply in the 1960 and 1970s
b. Decreased sharply in the 1990s and 2000s
c. Both A and B
4. True or false: In “Safety,” I say that increases in incarceration likely were the main cause of the decline in violent crime in the US in recent decades.
a. True
b. False
5. In “Safety,” I say the key cause of reduction in vehicle accident deaths has been
a. Government policies
b. Technological advances
c. Both A and B
INCOME INEQUALITY
1. In “Shared Prosperity,” I say a society with shared prosperity is one in which
a. The poverty rate is low
b. As the economy grows, incomes rise significantly for households in the middle and at the bottom
c. Income inequality is low
d. Income inequality decreases over time
2. In “Shared Prosperity,” I show that since the late 1970s middle-class incomes have _______ in most rich democratic nations
a. Increased
b. Been stagnant
c. Decreased
3. In “Shared Prosperity,” I show that in the United States middle-class incomes increased at about the same pace as the economy (GDP per capita)
a. From the mid-1940s through the late 1970s
b. From the late 1970s through the mid-2010s
c. Both A and B
4. True or false: In “Shared Prosperity,” I say that if we take into account changes in household size, employer benefits (such as health insurance and pensions), and improvements in the quality of goods and services, living standards of middle-class Americans have improved just as rapidly since the late 1970s as they did in the 1950s and 1960s.
a. True
b. False
5. In “Shared Prosperity,” I say the main reason middle-class incomes in the US have grown slowly since the late 1970s is
a. Our economy has grown slowly
b. Increased immigration
c. Most middle-class households have just one employed adult rather than two
d. Inequality of pay has increased
TRADE
1. In “Americans Need to Wake Up,” Bernie Sanders suggests the current globalized economy is
a. Good for workers everywhere
b. Good for workers in poor nations, but bad for workers in the US
c. Bad for workers everywhere
2. In “Trade,” I show that trade across geopolitical borders
a. Was minimal prior to the late 1800s
b. Increased and then decreased between the late 1800s and the mid-1900s
c. Has increased steadily and significantly since the mid-1900s
d. All of the above
3. True of false: In “Trade,” I say that since 2000 exports from China have increased dramatically and that as a result several hundred million Chinese have escaped poverty.
a. True
b. False
4. True or false: In “Trade,” I say most of the evidence, and the consensus opinion among experts, suggests that trade has reduced Americans’ overall economic well-being.
a. True
b. False
5. In “Trade,” I show that, on the question of whether imports and free trade agreements are good and whether we should limit imports, Americans are
a. Strong supporters of trade and imports
b. Fairly evenly divided
c. Strong opponents of trade and imports
TRUST
1. In “Trust,” I show that in the rich democratic countries the share of the population saying “most people can be trusted” ranges
a. From 25% to 75%
b. From 90% to 100%
2. In “Trust,” I show that
a. Americans with more education tend to be more trusting
b. In better-educated nations, people tend to be more trusting
c. In the US, educational attainment has been rising over time but trust has been decreasing
d. All of the above
3. In “Trust,” I say income inequality is hypothesized to reduce trust because
a. It leads people to think cheating must be rife
b. It yields less personal interaction and therefore less familiarity with people from other income classes
c. It enhances a sense that the middle class is modest in size while the poor are numerous and lack incentives to adhere to norms of honesty
d. All of the above
4. The evidence I present and discuss in “Trust” suggests that which of the following is most likely to be a key source of decreasing trust in the United States?
a. Ethnic diversity
b. Culture
c. Trust in government
5. True or false: In “Trust,” I conclude that the situation for the United States will be dire if we can’t reverse the decline in trust that has occurred over the past half century.
a. True
b. False
CLIMATE CHANGE
1. In “Climate Stability,” I say we have strong evidence that since 1950
a. Carbon dioxide emissions have increased sharply
b. Carbon concentration in the atmosphere has increased sharply
c. The earth’s average temperature has increased sharply
d. All of the above
2. True or false: In “Climate Stability,” I say the one element of the climate change story that experts aren’t sure about is why computer simulations of the earth’s temperature differ so dramatically from actual measurements of its temperature.
a. True
b. False
3. True or false: In “Climate Stability,” I say there is now a consensus among climate experts that, if unchanged, the current trajectory of human-produced carbon dioxide emissions will cause catastrophic damage to the planet.
a. True
b. False
4. In “Climate Stability,” I say the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of the monetary cost of an aggressive carbon-reduction effort is
a. 1 to 3% of GDP
b. 10 to 15% of GDP
5. In “More Republicans Than You Think Support Action on Climate Change,” Arlie Hochschild and David Hochschild say the main reason fewer Republicans than Democrats favor government efforts to combat climate change is
a. They tend to favor small government
b. They tend to be religious
c. They think that is the Republican party’s position
HAPPINESS
1. True or false: In “Happiness,” I say there is consensus among social scientists that happiness is the most important outcome for a society.
a. True
b. False
2. In “Happiness,” I say which of the following influences happiness?
a. Health
b. Income inequality
c. Work conditions
d. All of the above
3. True or false: In “Happiness,” I say that because people have a strong propensity to adapt to changes in life circumstances and revert to their earlier level of happiness, the average level of happiness in a nation almost never increases over time.
a. True
b. False
4. In “Happiness,” I show that since the early 1970s the average level of happiness in the United States has
a. Increased sharply
b. Stayed roughly the same
c. Decreased sharply
5. In “Happiness,” I show that average life satisfaction in the US is
a. Higher than in nearly every other rich democratic country
b. In the middle of the pack among rich democratic countries
c. Lower than in nearly every rich democratic country