[taxcontrol]

I missed one but would argue against their answer:

Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:
Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person on average

The problem with their answer is that in a progressive tax structure many will pay more than others.

[PENANCE]

I got that one wrong, too. But you have to be careful with the wording of that correct answer. I was thinking about the progressive income tax too, I should have read it more carefully. If you average everything out, the correct answer is indeed correct -- i.e. the sum of tax receipts/ the number of citizens (NOT "taxpayers") = total gov't spending/ the number of citizens (IF revenue is set equal to spending).

And, there are other ways the gov't incurs debt (e.g. foreign borrowing), so the answer you gave (which I also gave) isn't right.

[GunsareOK]

Got this one wrong also but the other 32 correct. I guessed on the question about Aristotle, Plato, and Thomas Aquinas.

This test was easier than the questions in an AP History review book I found at a used book store.

[WVNan]

Yeah, that’s one I missed too. I would argue that you and I were correct.

[ThomasThomas]

Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:
Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person on average

Mathematically both must be true.

tax revenue = spending

divide both sides by population

tax revenue/population = spending/ population

But the @nd equalization assumes all people pay taxes.

Therefore the first equation is righter.

[Pelham]

Part of government spending is interest on the national debt. The premise of the question, that taxes are equal to government spending, tells you nothing about the size of the national debt, only that the interest expense is being covered.

Taxes equaling spending means that the debt is staying constant.

Taxes exceeding spending means that the debt is being paid down.

Taxes falling short of spending, our usual condition, means that the national debt is increasing.

[FredZarguna]

Government debt would be zero if and only if in all FY's taxes equaled spending. You are not assured of that, only that this is presently the case.

Your argument for an alternative is incorrect, because in a progressive tax structure, while many will pay more than others as you correctly point out, many others will also pay less. Since this is not Lake Woebegone -- where all children are above average -- the statement average spending / person = average tax / person is correct. This is a purely mathematical question which has nothing to do with history or economics: if two functions have the same integral over the same interval, are they, on average, the same? [Hint: Yes.]

[oblomov]

If taxes equal spending, then the deficit is zero, not the debt.

The correct answer was tautologous with the question itself.

[ari-freedom]

“Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:
Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person on average

The problem with their answer is that in a progressive tax structure many will pay more than others.”

yes but there are bigger problems with your answer :)