Sociology Chapter 14 Capitalism And The Economy

Family Wage

a wage paid to male workers sufficient to support a dependent wife and children.

Capitalism

economic system in which property and goods are primarily owned privately; investments are determined by private decisions; prices, production, and the distribution of goods are determined primarily by competition in an unfettered marketplace.

Service Sector

the section of the economy that involves providing intangible services.

Champagne-glass distribution

the unequal, global distribution of income, so named for its shape.

Communism

a political ideology of a classless society in which the means of production are shared through state ownership and in which rewards are tied not to productivity but to need.

Agricultural revolution

1700 marked by the introduction of new farming technologies that increased food output in farm production.

Offshoring

a business decision to move all or part of a company's operations abroad to minimize costs.

Union busting

a company's assault on its workers' union with the hope of dissolving it.

Alienation

a condition in which people are dominated by forces of their own creation that then confront them as alien powers; according to Marx, the basic state of being in a capitalist society.

Corporation

a legal entity unto itself that has a legal personhood distinct from that of its members, namely, its owners and shareholders.

Socialism

an economic system in which most or all the needs of the population are met through nonmarket methods of distribution.

Union

an organization of workers designed to facilitate collective bargaining with employers.

Feudalism

precapitalist economic system characterized by the presence of lords, vassals, serfs, and fiefs.

Oligopoly

the condition when a handful of firms effectively control a particular market.

Monopoly

the form of business that occurs when one seller of a good or service dominates the market to the exclusion of others, potentially leading to zero competition.