Reference no: EM133212582 , Length: Word Count: 4 Pages

Assignment - Socialism and Market Systems Paper

Please answer these questions based on our reading assignments from this term. Each question is worth 30 points, and the grades are assigned based on the content of your arguments (not spelling, grammar, or style). Please note that most of these questions do not have a single "correct" answer, so you should use the concepts learned in this class to assemble your responses. Your response to each question should be less than one page, and your responses should reflect your own analysis and not contain material copied from external sources.

1. Please provide a brief comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of market socialism relative to planned socialism.

2. Suppose we develop a hybrid economic system for the United States, and workers can choose between two federal taxation plans. Under Plan A, workers pay a flat 10% income tax on their earnings, but they are not eligible for federal economic benefits like stimulus payments, subsidized health care, low-cost student loans or home mortgages, or unemployment benefits. Alternatively, workers pay a 40% income tax rate under Plan B, and these workers receive free health care, free education through the fourth year of college, and low-interest federal mortgages. All workers entering the labor force are under Plan A, but they can switch to Plan B at any time and must remain under Plan B if they choose this option. Is this hybrid tax system fair? Will this hybrid tax system promote income and wealth equality? What is the biggest potential problem with this system? Please use what we have learned about economic incentives to support your responses.

3. In Chapter 1, the authors list several criteria for comparing economic outcomes, and these include the level of output (GDP), the growth rate of output, composition of output, static efficiency, dynamic efficiency, macro stability, economic security, income and wealth equity, and freedom. Based on your reading of the assigned chapters, which measures are the most important tools for evaluating economic outcomes for the least advantaged residents of a country? Please explain your response.

4. Over the past 150 years, several economies have transitioned from a planned structure to a market-oriented system? Based on your reading of the assigned chapters, which three countries experienced the most successful transitions? Please explain your response.

5. Suppose the US adopts a form of universal basic income program in which each household is guaranteed to have at least $3,000 in monthly income. For example, if a household's average monthly income falls below $3,000 in a given quarter, then the difference is made up with federal direct payments. How would this program affect workers' decisions to participate in the labor force? How would this program impact entrepreneurship and the formation of new businesses?