SOC 201 Chapter 14: Chapter 14.2
Document Summary
Why a dollar is not always a dollar. Take a dollar bill out of your pocket and look at it. After all, your dollar cost you the same amount as it cost anyone else to own a dollar 4 quarters, 10 dimes, 20 nickels, or 100 pennies. Your dollar will buy the same amount of stuff as anyone else"s dollar. Everybody knows that, and that"s why money is believed to be the great equalizer. Although it is the basis of the conventional understanding of capitalism, the idea that a dollar is a dollar is misleading. In reality, some people"s dollars cost more and buy less. Many people think of education as an investment. Students (and their parents) are willing to go into debt to pay tuition because they expect that down the road the investment will pay off in better jobs that, among other things, pay higher salaries.
