7th Week

Here are this week's weekly questions.

1)According to federal law, how old do you think you have to be in order to legally work in the US? Answer this part in your head before going on.

Now go here:

http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/youthlabor/agerequirements.htm

Were you right? How do you feel about it?


2)Denmark recently passed a "fat tax". Fatty foods, which some believe are dangerous to one's health, now cost more. In the US, there is talk of implementing a "soda tax". The purpose of this tax would be to get people to drink less sugary soda, and to raise money for health care. How do you feel about these interpretations of the concept of consumer safety?


3)Lotteries are all rigged to make money. So are casinos. Yet people continue to gamble, despite the hard fact that the house always wins. What accounts for this? Is it a matter of risk-aversion? Do people just really suck at figuring out probabilities? And how the heck can this be related to the material in this course?


4)Name one consumer item that you think needs much more regulation (or an outright ban), OR name one that you think should be less regulated. Explain why.