In order to spur consumer spending in 1998, the Japanese government considered an $85 bil- lion voucher system whereby every Japanese consumer would receive a shopping voucher that could be used to purchase Japanese products. For simplicity, assume the following: Each consumer has wealth of 1 million yen, consumers must allocate this wealth between con- sumption now (c1) and consumption later (c2), the interest rate is zero, the voucher is worth 100,000 yen, and it can be spent only in the current period. If it is not spent, it is lost.
a. Plot a budget line for a representative consumer both before and after the voucher program (c1 and c2 are on the axes).
b. Do you expect that current consumption of a typical consumer will increase by the full 100,000 yen of the voucher? Explain.
c. How does the impact of this 100,000-yen voucher differ from simply giving the individual 100,000 yen?