Assume the government implements a policy that causes a market to produce the socially optimal level of output. Which of the following must be true?

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Analyzing the scenario, we start by restating the question and listing the options clearly so we can weigh each one.
Question: Assume the government implements a policy that causes a market to produce the socially optimal level of output. Which of the following must be true?
Answer options:
- The government policy must have reduced the level of output produced.
- The government policy must have increased the level of output produced.
- The government policy must have resulted in marginal social benefit being greater than marginal social cost for the last unit produced.
- Equating marginal private benefit and marginal private cost must have resulted in inefficiencies in the market.
- Equating marginal social benefit and marginal social cost must have resulted in inefficiencies in the market.

Option 1: The government policy must have reduced the level of output produced.
- Why this is not necessarily true: Reaching the socially optimal level of output could involve either increasing or decreasing output from the private market equilibrium, depending on whether the private market underproduces or overproduces relative to the social optimum. There is no inherent reason the required policy must reduce output in all cases.
- Common pitfall: Assuming a single direction (always down) when policy corrections depend on the presence and direction of externalities. This option is not must True in all scenarios.

Option 2: The government policy must have increased the level of output produced.
- Why this is not necessarily true: If the private market already overproduces relative to the social optimum, the policy would decrease output rather than increase it. Therefore, an increase in output is not a universal requirement for achieving the social optimum.
- Common pitfall: Confusing the direction of movement with the existence of a required policy; the correct move depends on whether the market overproduces or underproduces relative to MSC and MSB.

Option 3: The government policy must have resulted in marginal social benefit being greater than marginal social cost for the last unit produced.
- Why this is not correct: At the socially optimal level, the crucial condition is MSB = MSC for the last unit produced, not MSB > MSC. If MSB > MSC for the last unit, you would want more production; if MSB < MSC, you’d want less. The equality condition characterizes the optimum, not a strict inequality.
- Misconception addressed: Confusing the equalized condition for the optimum with a persistent surplus of benefit over cost for the final unit.

Option 4: Equating marginal private benefit and marginal private cost must have resulted in inefficiencies in the market.
- Why this is considered correct in the provided context: If the market, using only private measures MB = MC, produced a level that did not align with the social optimum due to externalities, then private MB = MC would fail to capture external benefits or external costs. In such cases, relying solely on private MB = MC would yield inefficiencies in social welfare, necessitating government intervention to achieve the social optimum. The claim that private MB = MC could have caused inefficiency rests on the presence of externalities or other market failures that private calculations ignore. This makes it plausible that the stated policy aimed to correct such inefficiencies by incorporating social considerations.
- No assumption of direction is required here; the core point is that private optimization can be misaligned with social optimization when externalities exist, leading to inefficiency.

Option 5: Equating marginal social benefit and marginal social cost must have resulted in inefficiencies in the market.
- Why this is not correct: Equating MSB and MSC is the condition for efficiency at the social optimum. If the policy achieves the socially optimal output, the equality MSB = MSC holds, which means no inefficiency remains at the optimum. Therefore, this option falsely asserts that the equality would produce inefficiency, which contradicts the basic condition for allocative efficiency.
- Conceptual clash: The very definition of social efficiency is MSB = MSC; stating the opposite would be inconsistent with standard economic theory.

Summary of evaluation:
- Options 1 and 2 make a claim about the direction of output change, which depends on whether the market underproduces or overproduces relative to the social optimum, so none is a must-be-true in all cases.
- Option 3 misstates the optimal condition by suggesting MSB > MSC for the last unit rather than MSB = MSC.
- Option 5 misdefines the efficiency condition by implying that MSB = MSC would generate inefficiency, which is incorrect by definition.
- Option 4 acknowledges that private MB = MC can fail to capture externalities, leading to inefficiencies that a government policy can address to reach the social optimum, making it the most plausible must-be-true statement given the scenario described.

AP Economics-Hillebrand Quiz Micro 6.1-6.3- Requires Respondus LockDown Browser

Assume the government implements a policy that causes a market to produce the socially optimal level of output. Which of the following must be true?

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