Question : 21) Zero pollution almost surely NOT a desirable social goal : 1384319

21) Zero pollution is almost surely NOT a desirable social goal because

A) the marginal benefit is equal to zero.

B) the marginal cost is equal to zero.

C) the totals costs of complete pollution elimination will be far greater than the total benefits.

D) the total benefits of complete pollution elimination will be far greater than the total costs.

E) society benefits by employing people in the “pollution fighting” industry.

22) A downward-sloping marginal benefit curve for pollution abatement means that

A) the costs of pollution decrease as further amounts are abated.

B) the marginal cost of pollution reduction will always exceed the marginal benefit.

C) it is impossible to know the benefits from additional increments of pollution abatement.

D) society views additional increments of pollution abatement as unnecessary.

E) there are decreasing incremental benefits to be realized from additional increments of pollution abatement.

23) An upward-sloping marginal cost curve for pollution abatement means that

A) it is impossible to know the benefits from additional increments of pollution reduction.

B) additional increments of pollution abatement will yield decreasing benefits.

C) society views additional increments of pollution reduction as absolutely necessary.

D) the cost of an extra unit of pollution abatement will increase as the total amount of abatement rises.

E) the marginal benefit of pollution reduction will increase with additional increments of pollution reduction.

24) The marginal benefit of reducing pollution in some industry may be expected to

A) rise as the level of pollution gets closer to zero.

B) remain constant for all levels of pollution control.

C) exceed the marginal cost of pollution reduction for all positive levels of pollution.

D) fall as the amount of pollution abatement undertaken rises.

E) be always greater than the marginal cost of pollution reduction.

25) The optimal amount of pollution abatement is generally less than 100%. Complete (100% ) abatement would be optimal if

A) the marginal cost of abatement is positive but less than the marginal benefit of abatement.

B) the marginal cost of abatement is always zero.

C) the marginal cost of abatement exceeds the marginal benefit of abatement at all levels of abatement.

D) the marginal benefit of abatement is zero.

E) none of the above — we cannot even imagine a situation in which complete abatement would be optimal.

26) Suppose a local meat packing company dumps waste into a river, causing a firm located downstream that uses the water to incur costs to restore the water quality. An efficient solution to this problem might involve:

1) forcing the meat-packing company to relocate near a different river;

2) forcing the meat-packing company to buy the downstream firm;

3) permitting the downstream firm to charge the meat-packing company.

A) 1 only

B) 2 only

C) 3 only

D) 2 or 3 only

E) 1 or 3 only

27) In general, the economist’s view on allocating resources to reduce pollution is that

A) all forms of water and air pollution should be eliminated.

B) government policies to reduce pollution have zero opportunity cost.

C) the reduction of pollution should proceed up to the point where the marginal cost of pollution reduction equals the marginal benefit to society.

D) the extent of pollution reduction should be based only on a comparison of total costs and total benefits to the environment.

E) it is not allocatively efficient to reduce pollution.

28) The socially optimal level of output of any good is the quantity where all marginal costs of production, private plus external, equal the

A) marginal cost of production.

B) marginal benefit to society.

C) average benefit to society.

D) total benefit to society.

E) marginal benefit to the firm.

29) Zero environmental damage is probably

A) technologically possible and economically efficient.

B) technologically possible but not economically efficient.

C) economically efficient but not technologically possible.

D) neither technologically possible nor economically efficient.

E) necessary if the human race is to survive.

30) The optimal amount of pollution abatement is such that

A) the total benefit of reducing pollution is equal to the total cost of reducing pollution.

B) the marginal social cost of reducing pollution is just equal to the marginal social benefits from doing so.

C) the marginal private cost of reducing pollution is just equal to the profit of the polluting firms.

D) there is no remaining pollution.

E) none of the above; there is no optimal amount of pollution abatement.