The United States has decided to give an equal amount of development aid to an autocratic country that has agreed to make limited market reforms and a democratic country facing high levels of poverty due to the rising cost of fuel and food. Which country is most likely to experience the greatest economic benefit from the aid and why?
What will be an ideal response?
In this scenario, the autocratic country that has agreed to make market-based reforms would be the more likely to experience an economic benefit from development aid. This is because when democracies receive aid, they often divert more funds to subsidies and other public projects to gain or maintain popularity with the people that elected them. Some of these expenditures may enhance growth, but many do not. Even if the aid is targeted toward public works projects such as building a new road or airport, the democratic government can then spend more of its own funds on subsidies. Thus, the aid can often directly or indirectly subsidize public consumption of goods such as food and fuel. The end result is a negative effect of aid in democracies—less growth rather than more. The presence of such aid might even allow the recipient regime to postpone making necessary but hard choices about how it invests its scarce economic resources.
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Some people view the United Nations as dangerous. Evidence of this point of view can be found in
a. the Left Behind series of novels. b. the religious Right. c. the extreme Left. d. the Third World.
In the United States, the final stage of policy making, referred to as ______, often gets little attention. Rather, our governments spend much more of their efforts on the ______ stage of policy making.
A. policy evaluation; policy formulation B. policy formulation; policy capacity C. policy legitimation; policy evaluation D. policy regulation; policy implementation
Which of the following events does the identity perspective identify as critical events in the timeline prior to World War II?
a. The establishment and subsequent failure of the League of Nations b. The rise of exceptionalism in the United States, fascism in Italy, and communism in the Soviet Union c. French occupation of the Ruhr Valley, Italian invasion of Ethiopia, and German annexation of Austria d. The invasion of Manchuria by Japanese military forces
What problem do late developers confront with economies of scale?
a. They produce on a small scale at a higher cost. b. They are unable to produce a large amount of their goods. c. First movers are able to undermine these new businesses. d. The laws and policies set by the first movers hinder late developers.