Multiple Choice Questions Testbank – Chapter 3

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Answer the following questions by selecting the appropriate answer from the list below.

Question 1

Simple economies can be described in terms of three major economic flows. These are:

  1. income, spending and saving.
  2. spending, production and saving.
  3. income, saving and production.
  4. income, spending and production.
  5. income, spending and net exports.

Question 2

The two major market types in the simple circular flow of income and expenditure are:

  1. public markets and private markets.
  2. free markets and regulated markets.
  3. factor markets and foreign exchange markets.
  4. goods markets and service markets.
  5. goods markets and factor markets.

Question 3

Complete the following statement. Households sell their ______in the ______market. They then use their income to buy ______in the ______market.

  1. goods; goods; factors of production; factor
  2. factors of production; factor; goods; goods
  3. goods; factor; factors of production; goods
  4. factors of production; goods; goods; factor

Question 4

Which of the following would not be viewed by economists as a firm?

  1. The University of South Africa
  2. Pizza Hut
  3. Spoornet
  4. The Consumer Council
  5. A cell phone service provider such as MTN

Question 5

Which one of the following statements is incorrect?

  1. The three major flows in the economy are total production, total income and total spending.
  2. There are two sets of markets in a simple economy: goods markets and factor markets.
  3. In the simple circular flow of economic activity, “real” flows of goods and factors, and financial flows, move in opposite directions.
  4. Firms are buyers in goods markets and sellers in factor markets, while households are buyers in factor markets and sellers in goods markets.
  5. Firms are the largest purchasers of capital goods.

Question 6

In the simple circular flow of economic activity, goods and services flow via:

  1. factor markets to goods markets.
  2. factor markets from households to firms.
  3. goods markets from households to firms.
  4. factor markets from firms to households.
  5. goods markets from firms to households.

Question 7

In the circular flow of economic activity, ______households in ______markets represents ______firms. Taxes and imports represent ______the circular flow.

  1. expenditure by; goods; income to; injections into
  2. expenditure by; factor; income to; withdrawals from
  3. income to; factor; expenditure by; withdrawals from
  4. income to; goods; expenditure by; injections into
  5. expenditure by; factor; income to; injections into

Question 8

In the circular flow of income and spending in South Africa, ______firms in the factor market becomes ______households, while ______households in the goods market becomes ______firms. Expenditure by foreigners on South African products constitutes ______the circular flow.

  1. income to; spending by; income to; spending by; a leakage from
  2. income to; income to; spending by; spending by; an injection into
  3. spending by; income to; spending by; income to; an injection into
  4. spending by; spending by; income to; income to; a leakage from
  5. production of; spending by; production of; income to; a leakage from

Question 9

In the context of the circular flow of economic activity, which of the following would NOTbe a traditional activity of the government?

  1. Purchases of labour services from households.
  2. Purchases of capital goods from firms.
  3. Provision of public goods and services.
  4. Transfers of tax revenues to low-income groups or regions.
  5. Sales of consumer goods to foreign buyers.

Question 10

In the circular flow of income and spending, ie the basic flow of income and spending between households and firms supplemented by the foreign, financial and government sectors:

  1. exports are leakages from the circular flow.
  2. investment is a leakage from the circular flow.
  3. savings are injections into the circular flow.
  4. imports are injections into the circular flow.
  5. taxes are leakages from the circular flow.

Question 11

Which of the following is a leakage from the circular flow of income and expenditure in South Africa?

  1. Defence expenditure by the South African government, via contracts with local military suppliers.
  2. Government purchases of textbooks for state-run schools.
  3. The sale of export fruit to the European Union.
  4. Investment by South African Breweries in a new brewery.
  5. A decision by a major supermarket chain to sell Danish beer.

Question 12

In a mixed economy, which of the following is not a legitimate area of government intervention?

  1. Expenditure on major infrastructure projects.
  2. Taxation of the profits of private companies.
  3. Taxation of the income of wage and salary earners.
  4. Control of prices that change in response to changes in demand.
  5. Transfers of tax revenues to poor communities.

Question 13

In South Africa, the largest single component of aggregate expenditure is:

  1. net exports.
  2. private consumption spending.
  3. private investment spending.
  4. government spending on consumption and investment goods.
  5. private savings.

Question 14

Aggregate spending on South African production comprises:

  1. private consumption, government spending, private investment and total savings.
  2. private consumption, government spending, private investment and net exports.
  3. private consumption, government transfers, private investment and net exports.
  4. private consumption, government investment, private savings and net exports.
  5. private consumption, government spending, private investment and spending by foreigners on South African goods.

Question 15

Which one of the following statements is correct?

  1. The quality of the factors of production is insignificant; it is only the quantity that matters.
  2. The difference between capital goods and consumer goods is that the former maintain their full value over time.
  3. Capital as a factor of production refers to the amount of money required to produce a good or service.
  4. It is possible to increase the total income for the economy as a whole without increasing production. This is the miracle of the modern monetary economy.
  5. The total income in the economy is equal to the total remuneration of the factors of production.

Question 16

Which one of the following statements is false?

  1. There are four broad groups of decision-making units in the economy: households, firms, government and the foreign sector.
  2. Imports are an important injection into the circular flow of income and spending in the economy.
  3. Taxes are a leakage or withdrawal from the flow of income and spending in the economy.
  4. Spending by households on consumer goods and services is called consumption spending.
  5. Spending on capital goods is called investment spending and is an important addition to, or injection into, the circular flow of income and spending in the domestic economy.

Question 17

Which one of the following is NOT a major source of spending in the economy?

  1. Households
  2. Banks
  3. Firms
  4. Government
  5. The foreign sector

Question 18

Which one of the following does NOT represent an injection into the flow of income and spending in the economy?

  1. Spending by local government.
  2. Spending on imported goods and services.
  3. Spending on exports.
  4. Spending on capital goods.
  5. Investment spending.

Question 19

Which one of the following doesNOT represent an injection into the flow of income and spending in the economy?

  1. Investment spending.
  2. Spending by provincial government.
  3. Spending by national government.
  4. Spending on exports.
  5. Money created by the South African Reserve Bank.

Question 20

Which one of the following is/are NOT a leakage or withdrawal from the circular flow of income and spending in the domestic economy?

  1. Personal income tax.
  2. Value added tax.
  3. Spending on imported goods and services.
  4. Government transfer payments (eg old-age pensions).
  5. Fuel levies.

Question 21

Which one of the following statements is false?

  1. Total spending in the economy consists of consumption spending by households plus investment spending by firms plus government spending plus net spending by the foreign sector (ie exports minus imports).
  2. From a macroeconomic point of view, total income in the economy is equal to the total value of production.
  3. Total income in the economy consists of the total remuneration of the various factors of production.
  4. Total spending in the economy is equal to the total value of injections minus the total value of withdrawals (leakages).
  5. Households and firms are linked via the goods market and the factor market.

Question 22

Which one of the following statements is false?

  1. The flow of income and spending in the economy runs in the opposite direction to the flow of goods and services.
  2. Firms are suppliers in the goods market.
  3. Households are suppliers in the factor market.
  4. Households earn income by selling their factors of production in the goods market.
  5. Government spends in the goods market and the factor market.
Question 23

Which one of the following statements is incorrect?

  1. Money is the most important factor of production. Without money, nothing can be produced.
  2. Natural resources (also called land) is one of the factors of production.
  3. Both the quality and the quantity of factors of production are important.
  4. Capital as a factor of production refers to tangible things that are used to produce other things.
  5. Although the quantity of labour is important, the quality of labour is usually more important.
Question 24

Which one of the following statements is incorrect?

  1. An entrepreneur is a person who combines the other factors of production and is the driving force behind production.
  2. The quality of labour is usually described by the term human capital.
  3. Capital as a factor of production refers to the finance that is required to make production possible.
  4. The quality of labour in South Africa is a serious concern.
  5. Even capital goods do not have an unlimited life.
Question 25

Which one of the following statements is false?

  1. A truck used to transport goods is a capital good.
  2. A bus used to transport people is a capital good.
  3. A mathematics lecture is an example of a service.
  4. A large loan (eg a mortgage bond) is a capital good.
  5. Capital goods lose their value over time.
Question 26

Which one of the following is not a capital good?

  1. A machine tool.
  2. A wrist-watch.
  3. A power saw.
  4. A truck.
  5. A business computer.
Question 27

Which of the following would not be viewed by economists as part of the factor of production, capital?

  1. The lecture theatres at the University of Cape Town.
  2. The subsidy income received by the University of Pretoria from the National Department of Education.
  3. The Volkswagen motor vehicle assembly plant in Uitenhage.
  4. The unsold stocks of motor vehicles held by the Toyota factory in Durban.
  5. The N3 national road between Durban and Johannesburg.
Question 28

Which of the following would not be viewed by economists as a factor of production?

  1. The chemistry laboratories at Stellenbosch University.
  2. A skilled bricklayer.
  3. An unskilled labourer.
  4. The wages earned by a skilled bricklayer.
  5. A sugar-cane plantation in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Question 29

A commercial forest planted to provide raw material inputs into a wood pulp mill would be viewed by economists as

  1. Part of the factor production, land.
  2. Part of the factor of production, labour, since labour has to be used to create and maintain the commercial forest.
  3. Part of the capital stock of the economy.
  4. An unproductive use of land, and therefore not a factor of production.
  5. An unproductive asset, since it may take several years before the forest is ready for harvesting.
Question 30

In economics, the four main factors of production are

  1. land, human capital, physical capital and finance capital.
  2. natural resources, man-made resources, labour and money.
  3. land, capital, labour and notes and coins in circulation.
  4. human capital, physical capital, financial capital and entrepreneurship.
  5. land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship.

Question 31

Which one of the following does not pertain to the factor markets?

  1. Capital
  2. Entrepreneurship
  3. Money
  4. Labour
  5. Natural resources
Question 32

Which one of the following does not represent the income of a factor of production?

  1. Rent
  2. Money
  3. Wages
  4. Profit
  5. Interest
Question 33

Which one of the following is NOT a factor of production?

  1. Money
  2. Capital
  3. Entrepreneurship
  4. Labour
  5. Natural resources
Question 34

Which one of the following is NOT a factor of production?

  1. The service rendered by a dustman.
  2. A loan advanced by Standard Bank to a budding entrepreneur.
  3. A lawnmower purchased by a garden services operator.
  4. The service rendered by a computer technician.
  5. A fertile area of land cultivated by a farmer.

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