Economics 2150A/B Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Ceteris Paribus, Market Economy, Capital Accumulation

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ECON 2150A/B Full Course Notes

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Understanding of market relations in mainstream economics and in political economy. Assumptions : buyers/sellers, ceteris paribus, people are rational, same info, goods the same. Political economy: structure, behind; market related to other fields (political and social), health care, well being of employees. Market: political construction, embedded in political and social relations. How do you define capitalism? capitalism: economic system based on pursuit of profit and on the concept of free market and competition. Gets its name from capital good = means of production, who owns the means of production is a capitalist. [[capitalism is a particular way of organizing the economic activities of a society. It can be defined along the dimensions of: class relations defined by private the ownership of the means of. Smith: market economy originated from class division in society, reflecting the sources of wealth. It is based on free market principle, efficient on its own.

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1. An economic system is

a. a set of institutional arrangements used to allocate scarce resources.

b. the movement of capital between countries.

c. how wealth is distributed and created in a country.

d. the natural resource available.

e. none of the above.

2. Contemporary economic change in Eastern Europe was preceded by

a. declining economic performance.

b. political change.

c. the withdrawal of Soviet backing.

d. all of the above.

3. Prior to the onset of economic reform in the late 1980s, the Soviet Union and most Eastern European countries allocated resources primarily by means of

a. Markets.

b. national economic plans.

c. neither a nor b.

d. both a and b.

4. Prices in the planned socialist systems were generally set by

a. supply and demand forces in the market.

b. the state.

c. external forces through international trade.

d. none of the above.

5. A major political change in the former planned socialist economies has been

a. the end of the political domination of Communist regimes.

b. the strengthening of the Communist regimes in combination with economic decentralization.

c. the full implementation of Western-style democracy.

d. all of the above.

6. The modern approach to defining economic systems

a. is based on the âismsâ of capitalism and socialism.

b. emphasizes resource allocation arrangements over incentive systems.

c. defines economic systems according to a number of characteristics.

d. states that defining economic systems is impossible.

e. none of the above.

7. The major attributes of an economic system are

a. its population and capital resources.

b. its level of GDP.

c. its level of GDP per capita.

d. its economic policies.

e. none of the above.

8. One very important characteristic of organizations in the comparing of economic systems is

a. the nature of economies of scale.

b. whether they exhibit capitalism or socialism.

c. the use of computers in the organization.

d. the level of centralization or decentralization of decisions.

e. none of the above.

9. A planned economy is one in which

a. subunits are coordinated by directives formulated by a superior agency.

b. subunits are not induced by appropriate incentives to carry out plan directives.

c. market allocation is combined with planned allocation.

d. a ministerial system prevails.

e. none of the above.

10. Ownership rights may affect economic outcomes because

a. public and private owners may have different time preferences.

b. public ownership may mean more attention to social rates of return.

c. the distribution of income is affected by ownership arrangements.

d. answers a and b are correct. e. answers a, b, and c are correct.

11. Which of the following would not be classified as an economic-environmental factor?

a. Natural resource endowments

b. The size of the economy

c. The nature of decision-making arrangements

d. The economyâs per capita income

e. The economyâs labor force

12. If one finds that the planned socialist economies all have higher growth rates than capitalist countries, this shows that

a. planned socialism necessarily produces higher growth than capitalism.

b. planned socialism may produce higher growth than capitalism, ceteris paribus.

c. capitalism may produce higher growth than planned socialism, ceteris paribus.

d. capitalism necessarily produces higher growth than planned socialism.

e. both b and c are correct.

13. National priorities tend to be

a. the same for countries that have similar economic systems.

b. the same for all countries.

c. different for different countries.

d. completely unknown.

e. none of the above.

14. Economic growth measures

a. the increase in nominal income.

b. the increase in the volume of output on either a total or a per capita basis.

c. the growth of efficiency.

d. the growth of productivity.

e. none of the above.

15. A measure of economic instability is

a. the unemployment rate.

b. the inflation rate.

c. the business cycle.

d. the Lorenz curve.

e. all except d are correct.

16. In the real world, most economic systems are in fact

a. centralized systems.

b. mixed systems.

c. market systems.

d. planned systems.

17. Although economic reform is difficult to characterize with precision, reform in planned socialist systems has typically been thought of as

a. revolutionary or abrupt in character.

b. occurring gradually over time.

c. successful in most cases.

d. none of the above.

18. In the United States, social security transfers as a percentage of the gross national product have

a. increased.

b. decreased.

c. remained the same.

d. fluctuated but with a significant downward trend.

19. In the industrialized capitalist systems, taxes as a percentage of the gross national product have

a. increased.

b. decreased slightly.

c. decreased greatly.

d. remained the same.

20. In contemporary capitalist economic reforms, privatization means

a. expansion of private ownership of the means of production.

b. improvement of planning methods.

c. implementation of worker management.

d. none of the above.

brownmoose882

WRITE a one-sentence summary of each paragraph!

The False Income-Inequality Narrative

BY JASON L. RILEY

Published in the Wall Street Journal on Sept. 29, 2015

An enduring theme of the Democratic presidential race has been income inequality, coupled with an enduring belief that America's affluent reached their status at the expense of the poor and the middle class.

Bernie Sanders speaks of little else on the stump. And when not busy dissembling on her handling of email correspondence at the State Department, Hillary Clinton will tell you that the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top. If Joe Biden gets in, expect more of the same. The vice president is said to be contemplating a 2016 bid in large part because struggling middle-income families may have trouble relating to Mrs. Clinton on inequality given her high living since leaving the White House.

This theme, in any case, seems to resonate with voters, which is no huge shock in the sixth year of an economic recovery. Envy and resentment fuel class warfare and lackluster economic growth throughout the Obama presidency have made people less optimistic and more inclined to fault others for their circumstances. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll this week reports that four-in-five Americans âwere either angry because our political system seems to only be working for the insiders with money and power or anxious and uncertain. After all, the economy still feels rocky and unpredictable or both.

Liberals want to address income disparities through wealth redistribution by taking money from more productive people and giving it to the less productive in the name of fairness as the left defines it. They want to raise income taxes, expand the welfare state, lift minimum wages, and strengthen the bargaining power of unions. Mr. Sanders has been the most explicit about this, even going so far as to propose a wealth tax. Our economic goals have to be redistributing a significant amount of [wealth] back from the top 1%, the senator said in July.

In reality, the left has overstated the problem. And all the focus on divvying up existing wealth instead of creating more risks making matters far worse for the people they are trying to help and the country in general. To the extent that the expanding welfare state allows more people to live without working and therefore without earning income or developing their own human capitalâsupporters of the welfare state are contributing to the very income disparities they so much decry, writes economist Thomas Sowell in his new book, âWealth, Poverty and Politics.

Mr. Sowell is the author of more than 30 books over the past four decades, many having to do with what drives different social and economic outcomes among different groups in the U.S. and elsewhere. In his latest tome, he draws from this well of research to do what he has done so well for so long: question basic assumptions behind public policy and follow the facts where they lead him.

One common assumption is that proportionate or random outcomes are the natural order of things and that gaps or disparities are evidence of something wrong. In fact, huge disparities are the norm, not the exception, because the demographic, cultural, and political factors that influence the development of the human capital that makes people productive also tend to be unequal.

In 2013, only 9% of U.S. women with college degrees who gave birth were unmarried, versus 61% of women who were high-school dropouts and unmarried. Harvard's Robert Putnam reports that children from professional families will hear 19 million more words than their working-class peers before the first day of kindergarten.

These children don't have the same prospects. Equal opportunity, in the sense of being judged and rewarded by the same standards as others, cannot possibly mean equal life chances for children born and raised in these very different settings,writes Mr. Sowell. The fact that life is unfair is not the same as saying that a particular institution, or a particular society, is unfair.

The argument that social mobility is a thing of the past in the U.S. also is disputable. Longitudinal studies by the IRS and others that measure the progress of individuals over time show that the American dream is alive and well. One such paper, published by the Pew Charitable Trusts in 2012, measured whether a person has more or less income, earnings, or wealth than his or her parents did at the same age and concluded that the vast majority of Americans had higher incomes, while 50% had greater wealth.

In other studies, Pew has found generational stagnation but the authors have noted that it didn't apply to immigrants. If low-income immigrants can rise even when the native-born don't, writes Mr. Sowell, that strongly suggests that American society continues to offer opportunities to move up economically, but that not all groups make the same use of these opportunities.

Mr. Riley, a Manhattan Institute senior fellow and Journal contributor is the author of Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed (Encounter Books, 2014).

redalpaca572

""Please give answer with simple explaination""""Please give answer with simple explaination""""Please give answer with simple explaination""

1. In every society, choices must be made because resources are

a. Infinite, but economic want are finite

b. Finite, but economic wants are insatiable

c. Unlimited, but economic wants limited

d. Limited, and so are economic wants

2. Which question is an illustration of a microeconomic question

a. Is the quantity of wine purchased in one year dependent upon the price of wine?

b. Does government spending influence the total level of employment in the economy?

c. Is the purchasing power of the dollar higher or lower today than it was in 2000?

d. Is capitalism superior to socialism?

3. The purpose of the ceteris paribus assumption used in economic analysis is to :

a. Avoid making normative statements

b. A void the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy

c. Make sure that all relevant factors are considered

d. Restrict the analysis to effect of a single economic factor

4. The profit motive is

a. Ineffective at producing consumer goods

b. Inherently beneficial to society if left alone to pursue its own self interests

c. Effective at producing goods when consumption is non-rival or non-excludable

d. Is often at odds with societies interests

5. In the system of central planning

a. There is repaid of the infrastructure

b. There is severe inflation in wholesale and retail prices

c. Economic growth leads to widespread unemployment among workers

d. The outputs of some industries become inputs for other industries

6. The market system communicates changes in supply and demand and elicits appropriate responses from businesses and resource suppliers. This is known as the:

a. Rationing function of prices

b. Guiding function of prices

c. Monetary function of prices

d. Circular flow of income

7. An increase in the quantity of automobiles supplied would be caused by which be caused by which of the following?

a. An increase in the demand for automobiles

b. A decrease in the demand for automobiles

c. Higher prices for steel

d. Higher prices for gasoline

8. All of the following would cause an increase in the demand for private airplanes at a given price, except a:

a. Decrease in interest rates

b. Increase in consumer incomes

c. Decrease in taxes on luxury goods

d. Decrease in the costs of constructing private airplanes

9. In modern economies of mass production,

a. Biological need motivates most consumption

b. The intrinsic value of goods and services motivates mass consumption

c. Affluence makes relative depravation meaningless

d. Invidious comparison motivates much of mass consumption

10. a more equal distribution of income in the United States would result in greater total consumer satisfaction. This statement is based on the concept that:

a. Income inequality is unfair

b. Income inequality is undemocratic

c. Income equality stimulates efficiency

d. Incomes are subject to diminishing marginal utility

11. While command systems suffer from incentive problems, market economies

a. Have no incentive problems

b. Suffer from incentive problems of their own

c. Tend to resolve all problems by their own dynamics

d. Have problems to the degree that there is government interference.

12. What economic concepts can be used to explain the reason that a new car purchased by a consumer and driven off a new car lot decrease in value almost immediately compared with the value of the same make and model of a car still on the new car lot?

a. Positive and negative externalities

b. Liability rules and lawsuits

c. The Coase theorem and moral hazard

d. Asymmetric information and adverse selection

13. Consider a situation where the U.S. Congress wants to place a special tax on private airplanes to increase tax revenue. This tax would only be effective in raising new tax revenues if the price elasticity of:

a. Supply is elastic

b. Supply is inelastic

c. Demand is elastic

d. Demand is inelastic

14. Under what circumstances would you expect economic profits to be zero in a particular industry?

a. During a recession

b. When there is little competition in the industry

c. When the industry is neither expanding nor contracting

d. When the demand for the product being produced is increasing

16. If economic resources are perfectly interchangeable between the two products shown on a production possibilities graph:

a. The economy will always be at full employment

b. More of one product can be produced without producing less fo the other product

c. The production possibilities curve would be straight line

d. The two products are of equal value to the economy

17. Opportunity cost is best defined as:

a. Marginal cost minis marginal benefit

b. The time spent on an economic activity

c. The value of the best foregone alternative

d. The money cost of an economic decision

18. All of the following would affect the position of a country production possibilities curve expect:

a. The quality of labor

b. The level of employment

c. The amount of the capital stock

d. Technological progress

19. The post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy consists of:

a. Using an example to a different point

b. Inferring causality from chronological sequence

c. Jumping to conclusions from an inadequate number of cases

d. Arguing for or against the person rather than the position being supported

20. Which is one of the five fundamental question that needs to be answered by economic system

a. What is the rate of unemployment?

b. Who will be the richest person in the economy?

c. What goods and services will be produced?

d. Why are the prices for goods and services so high?

21. The institution of private property is sustained over time by:

a. Competition

b. Bequests

c. Self-interest

d. Free enterprise

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Economics 2150A/B Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Ceteris Paribus, Market Economy, Capital Accumulation

ECON 2150A/B Full Course Notes

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