PHI -186 - Chapter 4 - The Nature of Capitalism
For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, less than _____ percent of the American workforce was employed by manufacturing.
10
According to one survey of cultural values
Americans typically value things like their children's education and a satisfactory love life more than work
Which statement best describes capitalism?
Capitalism is an economic system that operates under the profit motive.
According to Adam Smith, the division of labor decreases economic activity.
False
According to Alfie Kohn, competition promotes individual and group achievement better than cooperation.
False
According to John Stuart Mill, what makes capitalism a desirable economic system is the type of worker capitalist relationship inherent in capitalism.
False
According to Marx, the best economic system would be one where the means of production and distribution are in the hands of the bourgeoisie.
False
Adam Smith claims that the proper role of governments is to restrict and regulate the self-interested behavior of business organizations for the common good.
False
As a classical moral justification of capitalism, the natural right to property is a utilitarian justification.
False
Capitalism is possible without private property.
False
If it's true that individuals have a natural right to own property, then there can be no limits on this right.
False
None of the specific measures proposed by Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto have been implemented in capitalist countries.
False
Some critics believe that "competition is not a good" because trying to do well and trying to beat others are two different things.
False
The U. S. trade deficit has shrunk significantly in recent decades.
False
The capitalism that we know today in the United States is a "pure" form of laissez-faire capitalism.
False
Which statement creates the best picture of capitalism?
In state welfare capitalism the government plays an active role in regulating economic activities in an effort to smooth out the boom-and-bust pattern of the business cycle.
Which of the following accurately reflects the concept of Marxism?
Labor is alienated in a capitalist economic system (in part) because the labor of a worker stands opposed to the worker as an autonomous power.
Rather than strong work ethic, a more commonly seen role is:
Me first
Which of the following historical stages of capitalism came first?
Mercantile
According to Adam Smith, individuals have natural endowments that should determine the kind of work they do.
True
According to Marx, when workers are alienated they are not truly free.
True
Capital is that money that is invested for the purpose of making more money.
True
Government programs often subsidize American businesses and protect them from competition.
True
Implicit in capitalism is the view that human beings aim to maximize their economic self-interest.
True
Outsourcing is a practice where companies buy parts or whole products from other producers, both at home and abroad.
True
Property ownership involves a generally complex bundle of rights and rules governing how, under what circumstances, and in what ways both the owner and others can use, possess, dispose of, and have access to the thing in question.
True
Socialism is an economic system characterized by public ownership of property and a planned economy.
True
Socialism is an economic system characterized by public ownership of the means of production and distribution, and a planned economy.
True
The sense of private property that is central to capitalism is the ownership of the means of production and distribution.
True
Utilitarians reject the very idea of a natural right to property.
True
What we call capitalism did not fully emerge until the Renaissance in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries.
True
Worker control socialism is a hybrid economic system with no marketplace and no profits.
True
More Americans are putting aside job success to
be with their families.
Marxism states
capitalism leads to a concentration of property and thus a concentration of resources and power in relatively few hands.
A basic tenet of capitalism is that
capitalism requires private ownership of the major means of production.
Which of the following is an accurate statement?
common defense of capitalism is the argument that people have a fundamental moral right to property and that our capitalist system is simply the outcome of this natural right.
The concept of the "invisible hand" means
each person's private pursuit of wealth will result in the most beneficial overall organization and distribution of economic resources
Many economists are concerned that the growing trade deficit makes the U.S. vulnerable to
economic extortion.
One reason for believing that in practice capitalism fails to live up to its own ideal of competition is
government subsidies and protective tariffs.
Capitalism operates on the debatable assumption that human beings find increased well being through
greater material consumption.
An exclusive focus on short-term performance
has helped to create a high-pressure environment conducive to fraud
For employees who are paid handsomely for their efforts, Marx said their work would ultimately prove to be
meaningless to them.
The Fugger dynasty was an example of
mercantile capitalism.
The profit motive
must be checked by competition if society is to benefit.
In contrast to traditional manufacturers, many companies have become hollow corporations who
outsource and likely produce only the package and the label .
One of the four key features of capitalism is
private property
Though many jobs are outsourced, most economists believe
the economy will create new jobs.
Evidence for the idea that American manufacturing is declining is
the fact that government now employs more people than manufacturing.
Karl Marx believed that
under capitalism workers are alienated in several ways.
A basic premise of Adam Smith's is
we can secure what we need from others only by offering them something they need from us.
