Chapter 15 Income Distribution and Poverty

Economics 201 with Ballard at Michigan State University

About this deck

By: Joe Leger
Textbook: Real Economics for Real People
Created: 2011-12-09
Size: 7 flashcards
Views: 22

About StudyBlue

STUDYBLUE makes things that make you better at school. Things like online flashcards with photos and audio. Things like personalized quizzes and friendly reminders about when (and what) to study next. Think of it as a digital backpack™: access to all of your study materials online and on your phone. STUDYBLUE exists to make studying efficient and effective for every student, for free. Join us.

“I have used this website for three exams, and I see a huge difference in my test results.”
Naj

Sign up (free) to study this.

The Lorenz Curve

Shows the proportion of income going to each part of the population (sloping upwards exponentially) -in completely equal economy there wouldn't be any space between the Lorenz Curve and the Line of Equality

The Gini Ratio (Coefficient/Index)

The best known measure of inequality in an income distribution (the more unequal the income distribution is the higher the Gini Ratio)

0 = completely equal

1 = completely unequal

Feminization of Poverty

From 1970-1993, the number of poor people in female-headed families went up by about seven million

In-Kind Assistance

Assistance that doesn't come in the form of cash (1 big problem with the definition of poverty is that it only counts cash income)

Transfer Payments

Payments to people who do not provide any services in return (many TP are specifically targeted at low-income people and may reduce poverty)

Medicare

Rapidly growing social program that provides the elderly with more than $400 billion per year for medical expenses

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

System where instead of giving cash and taxing people at high rates, the government subsidizes the wages of the poor (provides work incentives for some workers and disincentives for others)

About this deck

By: Joe Leger
Textbook: Real Economics for Real People
Created: 2011-12-09
Size: 7 flashcards
Views: 22

About StudyBlue

“I have used this website for three exams, and I see a huge difference in my test results.”
Naj