Havard University Tax Game Analysis

This assignment has two parts. For part one you will work with a simulation. For part two you will answer one questions (with a calculus option).

Part one

1. Play the Tax Game available online at

http://econ.glendale.edu/index.php (Links to an external site.)

It is a simulation in which you are the tax dictator for a mythical country. You must collect enough revenue—but not too much—for your government by adjusting a number of different tax rates, caps and deductions. When you collected sufficient revenue, the game will tell you the tax incidence. That is the impact of your tax choices on different income groups ranging from the bottom 20% to the top 1%. The game also will report the Gini Coefficient.

See the reading on Canvas about taxes and the Gini coefficient

You will be asked to readjust you tax choices so that you are satisfied with your tax incidence. There is no correct answer to the game; each of you will differ in your political perspective and how you choose your tax rates. However, I will ask you to justify each of your tax choices as well as the overall tax incidence.

For each of the taxes, explain the choice you made for the tax rates. How did it affect your desire for a progressive or regressive tax incident. When relevant refer to the price elasticities that may have influenced your choice.

Part two: practice with data you may encounter in your work life

Imagine that you are an intern at a business. They ask you to research how demand for their product depends on household income. You remember that this is measured by the income elasticity of demand and that the U.S. economists measure this at . https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables/calendar-year/mean-item-share-average-standard-error/cu-income-quintiles-before-taxes-2019.pdf (Links to an external site.)

Choose two goods or services of interest to you. For each goods or services:

a. What is the good or service?

b. Which two numbers for each good at the website provide information about the impact of income on quantity demanded (cite these numbers and the income levels used)

Note: the columns show the expenditure by “quintile” that is the bottom 20% up to the top 20%. The “mean” for each good or service tells you how much that quintile spends on the good or service.

c. Do these numbers indicate that each good has a higher or lower income elasticity of demand (or perhaps even an inferior good)? How do you know?