Economics 101: What's your grade?

How confident are you that you understand background facts on economic issues? Every year at our Economic Outlook Luncheon, we challenge our guests to test their economic acumen, specifically as it applies to the state of Arizona.

Here's your chance to test your economic acumen. Answers and scoring are at the bottom of the story, but don't cheat.

1. Much election talk focuses on the Federal deficit, and April provided the first monthly surplus since September 2008. What was the highest annual deficit as a % of GDP during the recent financial crisis?



a) 5.5%
b) 10.1%
c) 15.2%
d) 20.1%
e) 26.5%



2. When was the deficit/GDP last that high or above?



a) 1929
b) 1945
c) 1975
d) 1985
e) Never



3. Should we tax businesses or the people who have jobs in them? What is the relative proportion of total Federal income taxes currently paid by individuals/businesses?



a) 15/85
b) 40/60
c) 50/50
d) 60/40
e) 85/15



4. The U.S. has regained 40% of 8.9 million jobs lost in the recession. Arizona lost 314,000 jobs. What percent of Arizona’s lost jobs have been regained?



a) 90%
b) 75%
c) 50%
d) 25%
e) 5%



5. Federal adjusted gross incomes for Arizona fell 7% in 2008 and 12% in 2009. What was the change in Arizona AGI in 2010?



a) fell only 2%
b) no change
c) up 5%
d) up 7%
e) up 9%



6. Under existing law, five years from now the corporate income tax rate in Arizona is scheduled to be about



a) 10% higher
b) 10% lower
c) 20% lower
d) 30% lower
e) eliminated



7. In January 2009, there were approximately 14,000 lender-owned foreclosed homes offered for sale in Greater Phoenix through the local MLS. Roughly how many were offered in May 2012?



a) 16,000
b) 10,000
c) 5,000
d) 1,000
e) 300



8. What has been the change in the Greater Phoenix single-family median resale home price from March 2011 to March 2012?



a) Down 15%
b) Down 5%
c) No change
d) Up 15%
e) Up 20%



9. Bonus question: Identify the person who made this statement from 1962: “...sometime within the next 50 years, the Mexican border will become as the Canadian border, a free one, with the formalities and red tape of ingress and egress cut to a minimum so that the residents of both countries can travel back and forth across as if it were not there.”



a) Caesar Chavez
b) Rose Mofford
c) Barry Goldwater
d) Carl Hayden
e) Sandra Day O’Connor

Scoring: 10 points possible. The correct answer earns 1 point. Bonus question counts double.

Answers: 1 (b); 2 (b); 3 (e); 4 (d); 5 (e); 6 (d); 7 (d); 8 (e); 8 (Barry Goldwater)