WAEC 2008 Economics Questions and answers

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1. ï»¿The main concern of economists is to

  • allocate scarce resources to satisfy human wants
  • satisfy all human wants
  • redistribute income between the rich and the poor
  • control the growth of population

2. Productive resources can also be called

  • principle of production
  • factors of production
  • items of production
  • labour and material resources

3. Production covers all the following except when

  • utility is created
  • a good is manufactured
  • a commodity is consumed
  • individual wants are satisfied

4. Data presented in tables are usually arranged in .

  • charts and graphs
  • rows and columns
  • graphs and rows
  • columns and charts

5. The theory of diminishing marginal utility states that as more units of a commodity are consumed, the

  • satisfaction from an extra unit decreases
  • satisfaction from an extra unit rises
  • satisfaction from an extra unit remains constant
  • total satisfaction from the good remains the same

6. Which of the following factors does not cause a change in demand?

  • Taste and fashion
  • Vagaries of weather
  • Price of other commodities
  • Price of the commodity

7. If goods P and Q are jointly demanded, an increase in the price of P will likely

  • leave the demand for Q constant but reduce tne quantity demanded of P
  • reduce the quantity of P but increase the price of Q
  • increase the quantity supplied of Q
  • decrease the quantity demanded of Q

8. The gap between demand and supply curves above the equilibrum price is

  • normal demand
  • excess supply
  • equilibrium quantity
  • abnormal demand

9. A major function of the price mechanism is that it determines the

  • allocation of resources
  • amount of national savings
  • population of the country
  • number of goods to be taxed

10. Which of the following determinants of supply cannot be predicted easily?

  • Price of the commodity
  • New techniques of production
  • National emergencies
  • Mobility of labour

11. If the co-efficient of elasticity of demand is 1.5, then the demand is

  • fairly inelastic
  • perfectly elastic
  • elastic
  • inelastic

12. Small scale enterprises are important in a country because

  • they usually produce goods for the dependants
  • they provide after-sales services only to the rich
  • the prices of their products are fixed
  • they render personalized services to the consumers

13. In the long run all factors of production are

  • expensive
  • variable
  • durable
  • fixed

14. The transformation curve slope indicates the

  • opportunity cost of producing one commodity for another
  • opportunity cost of producing two commodities at a time
  • sale of the plant to other investors
  • decrease in the cost of production

15. Which of the following is regarded as fixed cost?

  • Expenditure on raw materials
  • Expenditure on fuel
  • Expenditure on power
  • Rent on land

16. Revenue is the

  • cost of good multiplied by the quantity sold
  • price of good multiplied by the quantity sold
  • quantity of good plus purchase price
  • quantity supplied less quantity sold

17. A business outfit is said to be a public limited company when it

  • is owned by government
  • operates as a public corporation
  • is run by the public
  • sells its shares to members of the public

18. The main characteristics of an ordinary share are

  • maximum risk, fixed dividends, voting rights
  • maximum risk, fixed dividends, no voting rights
  • maximum risk, variable dividends, voting rights
  • minimum risk, fixed dividends, no voting rights

19. The monopolist can determine

  • price and output
  • price only
  • output only
  • price or output

20. A market situation with a large number of firms selling closely related but differentiated products is

  • monopolistic competition
  • perfect competition
  • monopoly
  • monopsony

21. Equilibrium under perfect competition requires that

  • MC = MR but AR < AC
  • MR = MC = AR = AC
  • AC=ARD.
  • TR < TC

22. The purely competitive firm should close down when its price is less than its

  • average variable cost
  • total fixed cost
  • average total cost
  • marginal cost

23. During a sale by auction, the price at which the good is finally sold is determined mostly by

  • competition between buyers and sellers
  • competition among buyers
  • competition among sellers
  • government policy

24. Which of the following does not affect a country’s population?

  • Birth rate
  • Death rate
  • Emigration
  • Unemployment

25. The trade unions in West Africa have achieved the following for the workers except

  • increased wages
  • better condition of service
  • competitive determination of wage rate
  • improved welfare facilities

26. The employers’ demand curve for labour is represented by the

  • marginal product curve of labour
  • total product curve of labour
  • average product curve of labour
  • total cost curve of labour

27. Agriculture plays a dominant role in our country because

  • it is the main source of energy
  • it employs more than 50% of the total labour force
  • it supplies all industrial inputs
  • there are large plantations of cocoa, groundnut and palm oil

28. The main objective of specialization is

  • allocate resources
  • limit workers’ skill
  • increase the use of labour
  • increase productivity

29. Industry can be defined as

  • several firms producing different commodities
  • group of firms producing similar commodities
  • different firms producing equal number of commodities
  • many firms producing for export

30. Which of the following is a disadvantage of large scale production?

  • Market economies
  • Managerial economies
  • Impersonal organization
  • Division of labour

31. The national income of a country can be estimated through the

  • output approach
  • input approach
  • empirical approach
  • census approach

32. Use the table below to answer questions 32 and 33.

Items $ Million
1 Final consumption expenditure 500
2 Gross private investment 150
3 Government purchases 300
4 Depreciation 25
5 Net factor income -10

The gross domestic product (GDP) is equal to

  • $825 m
  • $925 m
  • $940 m
  • $950 m

33. The net capital formation is

  • $115 m
  • $125 m
  • $915 m
  • $925 m

34. A medium of exchange which is generally acceptable is

  • barter
  • a cheque
  • government bond
  • money

35. Since money is demanded for what it can buy, the demand is said to be

  • derived
  • joint
  • composite
  • complementary

36. The supply of money in the economy includes

  • bank notes only
  • bank notes and coins
  • bank notes and bank deposits
  • bank notes, coins and bank deposits

37. The indicator of the value of money is

  • the general price level
  • the equilibrium price
  • consumers’ income
  • the interest rate

38. A continuous fall in the general price level is called

  • recession
  • depression
  • deflation
  • stagflation

39. The Central Bank can restrict credit through

  • depreciation of assets
  • granting overdraft
  • direct investment
  • open market operation

40. Creation of money by commercial banks is done by

  • increasing the cash ratio
  • printing money
  • lending to borrowers
  • issuing cheques

41. Public finance is basically an analysis of the

  • income and expenditure of government
  • expenditure patterns of government
  • current and capital receipts of government
  • current and capital expenditure of government

42. A major use of taxation is to

  • control population growth rate
  • influence people’s spending habits
  • control money supply
  • create bank credits

43. A tax which is expressed as a given absolute sum of money per unit of a commodity is known as

  • a specific tax
  • a direct tax
  • an indirect tax
  • a value added tax

44. All indirect taxes tend to be

  • progressive
  • regressive
  • certain
  • equitable

45. Which of the following will have a more destabilizing effect on the economy?

  • A tax on the prices of vehicles
  • A tax on petrol
  • A decrease in the supply of vehicles
  • Moderate increase in wages

46. An important feature of economic development is

  • population explosion
  • reduction in exports
  • high literacy level
  • low exports

47. Trade among nations is desirable because it

  • enables people in a country to know those in other countries
  • makes it possible for people in a country to enjoy the goods and services produced in other countries.
  • enables residents in a country to understand the language of residents of other countries
  • makes it possible for a country to have the currencies of other countries

48. Invisible trade refers to trade in

  • services
  • goods and services
  • tangible goods
  • crude oil

49. Balance of payment surplus implies that the value of the country’s

  • exports exceeds its imports
  • imports exceeds its exports
  • exports is equal to its imports
  • terms of trade is constant

50. The Economic Commission for Africa is an agency of the

  • Organization of African Unity
  • African Development Bank
  • European Union
  • United Nations Organization

ANSWERS

  1. A
  2. B
  3. D
  4. B
  5. A
  6. D
  7. C
  8. B
  9. A
  10. C
  11. C
  12. D
  13. B
  14. B
  15. D
  16. B
  17. D
  18. C
  19. D
  20. A
  21. B
  22. C
  23. B
  24. D
  25. D
  26. A
  27. B
  28. D
  29. B
  30. B
  31. A
  32. D
  33. C
  34. D
  35. A
  36. D
  37. A
  38. C
  39. D
  40. C
  41. A
  42. C
  43. D
  44. B
  45. B
  46. C
  47. B
  48. A
  49. A
  50. D