Question

The United States trade deficit in March 2016 was around $40.4 billion. The U.S. population at this time was 323,800,000. If the wealthiest 1.0% of the population equally paid to bring the trade deficit back to zero, how much would each individual need to contribute?

a) $404 per person.

b) $4,040 per person.

c) $40.40 per person.

d) $0.40 per person.

Answer 1

To calculate what each individual would need to contribute to cover a $40.4 billion deficit, 1% of the U.S. population would first be determined and then the total deficit would be divided by this number. Upon calculation, it results in $12,489.57 per person.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student has asked how much each individual in the wealthiest 1% of the United States population would need to contribute to eliminate a trade deficit of $40.4 billion, given the U.S. population was 323,800,000 at the time. To find the answer, we first determine the number of individuals that represent 1% of the population. Then, we divide the total deficit by this number to find out how much each individual would have to pay.

Calculating 1% of the U.S. population:
323,800,000 (total population) x 0.01 (1%) = 3,238,000 (population representing the wealthiest 1%).

Now we divide the trade deficit by this number:
$40,400,000,000 (trade deficit) ÷ 3,238,000 (wealthiest 1%) = $12,489.57 per person.

However, the options provided do not include this exact amount, which could mean there is an error in the student's original question, or an incorrect assumption has been made about the distribution of the deficit.