Question

In 2013, it was estimated that the total value of all corn-production subsidies in the United States totaled about $4.8 billion. The population of the United States was approximately 315 million people that year.

Instructions: In part a, round your answer to 2 decimal places. In parts b–d, enter your answers as whole numbers.

a. On average, how much did corn subsidies cost per person in the United States in 2013? (Hint: A billion is a 1 followed by nine zeros. A million is a 1 followed by six zeros.)

b. If each person in the United States is only willing to spend $0.50 to support efforts to overturn the corn subsidy, and if antisubsidy advocates can only raise funds from 10 percent of the population, how much money will they be able to raise for their lobbying efforts?

c. If the recipients of corn subsidies donate just one percent of the total amount that they receive in subsidies, how much could they raise to support lobbying efforts to continue the corn subsidy?

d. By how many dollars does the amount raised by the recipients of the corn subsidy exceed the amount raised by the opponents of the corn subsidy?

Answer 1

a) On average,per person corn subsidies in the United States in 2013 costs-

$4.8/315 = $15.23

b) If each person is only willing to spend $.50 and the funds are raised from only 10% of the population,then the money raised will be-

10% of 315 million= 31.50 million people will fund and each of them will provide $0.50.

So, the total funding will be $0.50 x 31.50 million = $15.75 million

c)When the recipients of corn subsidies donate just 1% then the money they can raise will be

1% of $4.8 billion = $48 million

d) So, the excess money raised will be

$48 million - $15.75 million = $32.25 million