Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo

14.

How is the poverty rate calculated?

15.

What is the poverty line?

16.

What is the difference between poverty and income inequality?

17.

How does the poverty trap discourage people from working?

18.

How can the effect of the poverty trap be reduced?

19.

How does the U.S. government specifically support elderly people experiencing poverty?

20.

What is the safety net?

21.

Briefly explain the differences between TANF, the earned income tax credit, SNAP, and Medicaid.

22.

Who is included in the top income quintile?

23.

What is measured on the two axes of a Lorenz curve?

24.

If a country had perfect income equality what would the Lorenz curve look like?

25.

How has the inequality of income changed in the U.S. economy since the late 1970s?

26.

What are some reasons why a certain degree of inequality of income would be expected in a market economy?

27.

What are the main reasons economists give for the increase in inequality of incomes?

28.

Identify some public policies that can reduce the level of economic inequality.

29.

Describe how a push for economic equality might reduce incentives to work and produce output. Then describe how a push for economic inequality might not have such effects.

Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/principles-economics-3e/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/principles-economics-3e/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Jul 18, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.