16) Doctor Hugh R. Sick recommends his patient take 2 units of insulin per day to successfully
manage her diabetes condition. In a different office across town, Doctor I. M. Dismal, an
economics professor, tells his student to read every assigned textbook chapter to successfully
pass economics. In spite of the sage advice of the doctor and professor, the economic way of
thinking recognizes
A) patients don’t always follow their doctor’s orders.
B) students don’t always follow their professor’s pleas.
C) substitutes for prescriptions and textbook assignments exist; patients and students
demonstrate their desire for substitutes through their actions.
D) all of the above are true.
17) Consider a tragic and heart-wrenching case in which a cancer patient is told he needs
chemotherapy in order to live three more years at best, but the patient’s final three years will be
filled with all the terrible side-effects of the treatment. Without it, he will surely die within a
year, but his quality of life would be a better. Suppose he chooses to quit chemotherapy. The
economic way of thinking would therefore conclude
A) the patient made the wrong choice.
B) the doctors were absolutely right—the patient needs chemotherapy.
C) it is better to live longer than it is to die sooner.
D) all of the above are true.
E) none of the above is true.
18) A cancer patient is told he needs chemotherapy in order to live three more years at best, but
the patient’s final three years will be filled with all the terrible side-effects of the treatment.
Without it, he will surely die within a year, but his quality of life would be a better. Suppose he
chooses to quit chemotherapy and instead he spends his time learning to play the cello,
something he always wanted to learn. The economic way of thinking suggests
A) others should consider playing the cello while they are still young and healthy.
B) the doctors were absolutely right—the patient needs chemotherapy.
C) the patient considers playing the cello a substitute for chemotherapy.
D) the patient has clearly given up his will to live.
19) Suppose a cancer patient decides to forsake weekly chemotherapy treatments in order to
spend more meaningful, loving time with her friends and family. In cases where patients refuse
treatment,
A) there are indeed substitute for chemotherapy, such as time with family.
B) the patient is behaving irrationally.
C) the patient doesn’t know what is in her long-run best interest.
D) the patient fails to see that chemotherapy is a better substitute than time with the family.