Divide the students into five groups and give them a tablet each. Assign one of the five problem sets to each group. Ask them to fill in the top boxes of their two problems – i.e. they suggest a policy to solve the problem identified.
Then collect the tablets in and hand them out to a different group (each group now has another group’s policy). Their job is now to think of ways this might fail.
Go around the groups and choose a few of them to feed back the possible problems with the policy identified.
The Government failure – front of class resource has some examples of when things go spectacularly wrong to get the point across. You can then sum up with a quick definition of government failure and the ways in which it might occur.
Problem 1A. People drinking too much alcohol.
Government action to solve the problem.
How is the government action going to fail?
Problem 1B. US government struggling with ‘dumped’ Chinese beds, taking up 58% of the US furniture market sales.
Government action to solve the problem.
How is the government action going to fail?
Problem 2A. Monopoly power in the UK football television broadcasting rights. BSkyB own all the rights.
Government action to solve the problem.
How is the government action going to fail?
Problem 2B. Rising inequality in the UK Economy.
Government action to solve the problem.
How is the government action going to fail?
Problem 3A. Congestion on UK roads.
Government action to solve the problem.
How is the government action going to fail?
Problem 3B. Overpollution of the environment.
Government action to solve the problem.
How is the government action going to fail?
Problem 4A. People not getting a vaccine to prevent the spread of swine flu.
Government action to solve the problem.
How is the government action going to fail?
Problem 4B. Utility companies such as British Gas ripping off consumers.
Government action to solve the problem.
How is the government action going to fail?
Problem 5A. Private dentists exploiting patients who lack information.
Government action to solve the problem.
How is the government action going to fail?
Problem 5B. Unemployment being too high.
Government action to solve the problem.
How is the government action going to fail?