Homework 1
Extra Problems

  1. We discussed many of the following questions about the Globe whistleblower article in the first class on Tuesday. You should be able to write out answers based on your class notes from that class and this one.

    If you've lost your hard copy you can reread the article at www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/09/02/billions_recouped_in_health_funding/

    1. According to the article, what percentage of the $9.3 billion recouped was given to the whistle-blowers? What percentage was retained by the government?

    2. Give at least two explanations for the apparent discrepancy between the $1 billion given the whistle-blowers and the article's claim that they got between 15 and 25 percent.

    3. Describe in both absolute and relative terms how the recovery amount per claim changed from 2002 to 2005.

    4. How would your answer to the previous question change if you took inflation between 2002 and 2006 into account?

  2. Exercise 2.2 (page 25) in Common Sense.

  3. Exercise 2.5 (page 26) in Common Sense.

  4. Exercise 2.8 (page 27) in Common Sense.

    The article you find must be from the print media, not the web (although you may use an on line version of an article if the original appeared in print). If the article is long, you need not discuss it all. Just report accurately on a few of the numbers.