Assignment

Part 1: Multiple Choice

Question 1. Pareto Optimality:
a. Pareto optimal outcomes never involve any person's least preferred outcome
b. Some pareto optimal outcomes may be pareto improvements over other pareto optimal outcomes
c. Pareto optimality arises from a principle based on making some better off while hurting others
d. both a. and c.
e. both b. and c.
f. both a. and b.
g. none of the above

Question 2. Individualist ethics would agree that:
a. Good social choices derive from properties of the individuals in that society
b. Justice in society can be defined without reference to any individual
c. Utilitarianism is the only ethical principle that is invidualist
d. Pareto Opimality is an individualist ethical principle
d. both a. and c.
e. both b. and c.
f. both a. and b.
g. both a. and d.

Question 3. A social choice function:
a. May take as input information about agents
b. Chooses the best or right outcomes from among all possible outcomes
c. Usually has access to less information than institutions
d. both a. and c.
e. both b. and c.
f. both a. and b.

Question 4. Kaldor-Hicks improvements:
a. Focuses on finding ways to improve the outcome for some individuals
b. Does not allow individuals who gain to compensate those who loose
c. Are always Pareto improvements
d. both a. and c.
e. both b. and c.
f. both a. and b.

Question 5. Contractualism:
a. Attempts to justify ethics using a thought experiment
b. Proves utilitarianism is the only correct ethical framework
c. Places an emphasis on what people will agree to when determining what is 'good'
d. both b. and c.
e. both a. and c.
f. both a. and b.

Question 6. Welfarism:
a. Attempts to use objectively true preferences to determine what is best
b. Varies from individualist to weakly individualist
c. Allows only ordinal utility to be used (rules out cardinal approach)
d. both a. and c.
e. both b. and c.
f. both a. and b.

Question 7. Utilitarianism
a. Never justifies hurting others or lowering their utility
b. Allows clear costs and benefits
c. Cannot be based on subjective preferences
d. both a. and c.
e. both b. and c.
f. both a. and b.

Part 2: Short Answer

Answer all of the following 6 questions.

Question 8. Alice and Bob are trying to decide where to eat there prefer- ences are illustrated by the following table:

Bob argues that Wendy's would be the right social choice, but Alice disagrees that it is a good social choice. Explain what Alice's arguement might be first using an ordinal utility approach and then using a cardinal utility approach.

Question 9. Alice and Bob are splitting a pizza with 8 slices. Illustrate the social budget constraint. Show and explain at least one of the Rawlsian and utilitarian indifference curves and label the socially optimal allocations.

Question 10. Explain the thought experiment that is used to justify con- tractual ethics. Explain one arguement about what social choice framework people would choose behind the veil.

Question 11. Draw and label the model of institutions we have been discussing.

Question 12. Compare and contrast consequentialism and the Rights/Justice approaches. What are the key differences, can the two approaches sometimes justify the same outcomes as being 'good'?

Question 13. Draw a social budget constraint with production for Alice and Bob. Label where the pareto optimal allocations are on your graph, and pick one feasible allocation and explain why it is or isn't Pareto optimal.