SOC 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Offshoring, Outsourcing
Document Summary
8/30/16 social problems of capitalism and corporate power. How sympathetic are you to the notion that the business of america is business? . Private ownership: individuals are encouraged to own possessions, sell possessions, and buy possessions. Profit maximization: seeking personal gain is morally and socially appropriate. Free competition: in a competitive society, if one agent raises prices too high, then others will step in to sell goods more cheaply. Laissez-faire government: a government that does not intervene in the economy. More office jobs, fewer employees, temp work, work from home. Inherent contradiction found within capitalism is the inevitability of monopolies. This economic dominance by huge corporations is contrary to classical economic theory. Corporations control demand instead of responding to it. When four or fewer firms supply 50% or more of a particular market, a shared monopoly results. Aluminum, beef, beer, cereal, chicken, chocolate, cigarettes, cosmetics, pork, soft drinks, snacks, trucks.
