1. What is efficiency? Is it the only goal of economic policymakers?
2. What effect do government intervention, taxation, and regulations have on economic behavior? Explain. What are real-world examples of government intervention, taxation, and regulations? What are the goals of each?
3. What factors influence a firm's competitive strategies? How does global economic competition affect the price elasticity of demand in the domestic market and decisions related to the strategy a firm uses to compete? Why do most economists oppose trade restrictions? Who have been the winners and losers as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement? Explain your answer.
4. What is an externality? Provide at least three examples. How does one of the examples you provided affect the market outcome? What is the role of government in addressing the implications of an externality you provided as an example? Is it possible that a government's solution to a market failure would worsen the failure? Explain your answer.
5. Air is a "public good". I guess that water is kind of a public good as well, even though I do get a water bill each month. Should the internet be a public good? What about health care? Energy? Educational opportunities? Food? Why/why not? What else do you think should be a "public good"? And is it in our personal as well as collective interest to have more or less public goods? Why/why not?