Chapter 14: Capitalism and Economy - Inquisitive Questions

In the U.S., how do working mothers and stay-at-home moms differ, on average? Match each characteristic to the group it describes.

Working mothers: 1. feel more valued at home 2. more likely to feel anxious and tired 3. more likely to get divorced Stay-at-Home Moms 1. more depressed 2. less happy

Henry Ford's introduced the $5 work day in 1914. Adjusted for inflation, what daily wage would that be equivalent to in 2015?

$117 -For an 8-hour work day, that is equivalent to $14.62 per hour—slightly better than the typical 2015 wage for manual laborers in construction and agriculture, and twice as much as the current federal minimum wage, $7.25 per hour.

Which technological developments were milestones of the Industrial Revolution?

-the steam engine -the powered textile loom

According to the best recent estimates, how much of the world's wealth is in the hands of the richest 1 percent of adult individuals?

4%

Choose the correct statistic to complete the sentence: In the U.S., the percentage of unionized workers in the private sector has dropped from 35% in the 1950s to about ______ today.

7%

What is the key difference, for Marx, between socialism and communism?

The disappearance of class divisions between workers and capitalist

According to Milton Friedman, a corporation's only social obligation, other than obeying the law, is to make a profit.

True

The United States is virtually alone among modern industrialized nations in not mandating any paid vacation or holidays for its workers.

True

What is Karl Marx's term for a condition in which people are dominated by forces of their own creation?

alienation

What is Emily Howell's area of expertise?

classical music composer

According to Simmel, capitalism makes true friendship possible by depersonalizing the forms of payment. Severing market relations from personal relations creates separate spheres: a public sphere that is economic and a private sphere that is purely social.

friendship depersonalizing economic social

What, in Marx's view, ultimately sets human beings apart from other animals?

human beings envision things and then create them

In recent years, union representation rates have risen in sectors of the U.S. workforce where one kind of worker is heavily represented. Which kind of worker is that?

immigrants (many of them are from Central America)

According to Georg Simmel, ways of paying people for their work have over time become more and more depersonalized. Place the payment forms in order, from most personal to least personal, following Simmel's scheme.

in-kind payments (sustenance necessary to live), piecework payments, wages, salaries, honoraria

In Henry Ford's auto plans, who was eligible for enrollment in the $5 day program?

married men The "family wage" program was created with two-parent households in mind. Ford's stated aim was to promote the American family, conceived of as a working husband and a wife who stayed home and looked after the kids. Another part of the program were home visits by social scientists, who saw to it that families followed the plan and lived in the "right" kinds of families.

What term do economists use for a market dominated by a small group of corporations that are able to coordinate their selling prices to increase profits?

oligopoly

What is the Turing test, named after computer scientist Alan Turing, meant to be a test of?

the ability of a computer to possess intelligence

What is political arbitrage?

the use of inside political information to increase corporate profits

What is the main purpose of forming a legal corporation?

to limit investor's financial liability

Adbusters has satirized global corporations by altering their logos. Drag labels into place to identify the corporation each logo mocks.

-Adbusters has satirized global corporations by altering their logos. Drag labels into place to identify the corporation each logo mocks. BUY logo = BMW -Heineken International is a Dutch brewing company. Its many international labels include Murphy's Irish Stout Consume = Heineken -DHL was the first international overnight courier service. The brand is now part of Deutsche Post AG, the privatized successor to the German postal service DIE = DHL -McDonald's is the world's largest fast-food burger chain, serving more than 60 million people per day Work = McDonald's

What are the characteristics of a capitalist economic system?

-Investment decisions are made by private entities. -Property and goods are mainly privately owned. -The production, pricing, and distribution of goods are determined by a free market.

Marx believes that capitalism, with its tendency toward overproduction, is self-undermining. By what means can capitalism stave off its collapse?

-Opening of new markets. -Destruction of wealth, as in war.

Which innovations were, for Max Weber, key in the rise of modern capitalism?

-Protestant theology -double-entry bookkeeping

What reasons have been proposed for why women often don't take advantage of generous corporate family leave policies?

-Some women would rather be at work than at home. -Some women worry about hurting their prospects for promotion.

Henry Ford touted his $5 day as a "family wage," meaning that it was enough to support not just a worker but an entire family. What were the social consequences of Ford setting up this pay standard for his company?

-To earn $5 per day, workers had to give up certain privacy rights. -There was less economic pressure on children to work.

What reasons have been proposed for the low rates of union representation among workers in the U.S.?

-a perception that unions promote worker inefficiency -fear among workers of harming relations with management -a perception that unions are corrupt and strong-arm workers

For American corporations, what are the main benefits of offshoring parts of their operations?

-lowered labor costs -fewer environmental regulations

In this video, sociologist Nitsan Chorev discusses ways, not to undo economic globalization, but to shift its effects. Which concerns does she mention as potentially addressable by international regulations?

-the rights of the working class -environmental protections -wealth and income inequality

The meltdown of the U.S. financial markets in 2008 had several causes. Which items were among them?

-too-cozy relationships between lenders and regulators -government backing of loans made by private corporations

According to some sociologists, in the twentieth century the male breadwinner-female homemaker ideal served several traditionalist purposes. What were these?

1. boosting men's sense of self -Men's wages were considered essential to family survival, while women's wages were considered nonessential. 2. making divorce more difficult -The less attractive women's work prospects were, the less likely they were to leave unhappy marriages.

Which developments in Europe, beginning in the mid-1400s, led to the gradual appearance of the industrial wage labor force over the next several centuries?

1. the enclosure movement -Workers displaced from enclosed land moved to cities—the beginnings of urbanization 2. the agricultural revolution -Managers of privatized land developed new techniques for maximizing productivity, and not as many people were needed to work the land 3. population growth -When land became more productive, it was able to support more people than were needed to work it

The act mandated 12 weeks of paid or unpaid leave, for any American full-time worker at a company employing more than 50 people, to care for a newborn baby or deal with a family emergency.

12 paid or unpaid full-time 50

What must a computer do to pass the Turing test?

It must fool a human being into thinking he or she is interacting with another human being -The interaction takes place via computer screens, so that the computer is not required to physically look like a human being.

Match each feature of money to the corresponding social and economic benefit, according to Adam Smith.

Money can be used to set agreed-on prices for goods -Money comes in standard countable quantities (Since money is divisible into units of small value, prices can be set very precisely.) Money can be used to store value -Money does not rot, rust, or evaporate. (Money makes savings possible. Saving with a barter system is difficult.) Money promotes trust between people -Money is intrinsically worthless (Accepting money in payment is an act of trust: that someone else will later do the same when one wants to buy something)

Financial Services Modernization Act Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act second Glass-Steagall Act

Passed in 1999. Broke down the distinctions between investment banks and commercial banks. Correct label: Financial Services Modernization Act Passed in 2010. Includes the Volcker Rule, which restores some restrictions on commercial banks. Correct label: Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act Passed in 1933. Distinguished investment banks and commercial banks, and limited the risks the latter could take. Correct label: second Glass-Steagall Act

Match each form of alienation in Marx's analysis of capitalism with its alleged cause.

People cannot control their working conditions. Correct label: alienation from the production process People's creativity is stifled. Correct label: alienation from oneself People perform highly specialized labor. Correct label: alienation from one's product People's social worth is determined by their earnings. Correct label: alienation from other people

Identify each occupation as being either in the service sector or not in the service sector.

Service Sector -garbage truck driver -tour guide Not Service Sector -computer store sales clerk -crop dusting pilot

This animation explores different reasons why people work long hours even when their professional or financial situation would enable them to dial back. A key concept in this context is that of the opportunity cost of leisure. How is this concept best explained?

The more one is paid, the more one gives up by taking a break from earning money This is called opportunity cost because to take a break is to pass up the opportunity to do something else (namely earn more money)

Apply the correct label to each description of a class in the feudal system.

managers of the land and of private armies Correct label: vassals the landowning nobility Correct label: lords the agricultural working class Correct label: serfs

Robert Hare's 2003 documentary The Corporation asks the question "If corporations are persons, what kind of persons are they?" What answer does Hare give?

pathological persons

What, for Adam Smith, are the important features of a capitalist economy?

specialization self-interested competition money as a medium of exchange

In the United States, what is the legal basis for treating corporations as people, with some of the same rights as individuals?

the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution -An 1886 Supreme Court decision began with the observation that Fourteenth Amendment protections covered corporations as well as individuals.

Match each globalization trend of the past few decades with the corresponding example.

the rise of an international trade in personal information about consumers Correct label: new markets the proliferation of multilateral trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement Correct label: new rules the invention of digital cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin Correct label: new means of exchange the formation of transnational regulatory bodies, such as the World Trade Organization Correct label: new players