Deck 10: Work and Wealth

Question 1

When one store stays open late to gain an advantage, its competitors begin to stay open late, too. At this point the first store is no better off than it was before, but now every store has additional expenses. This illustration is an example of what Frank and Cook call a

A) capitalistic marathon.
B) market economy.
C) positional arms race.
D) struggle for parity.
E) virtual conflict.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

According to the Encyclopedia of Computer Science, a "programmable machine that either in performance or appearance imitates human activities" is called a

A) computer.
B) deltoid.
C) mechano.
D) robot.
E) transformer.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

One way automation can lead to the creation of new jobs is by

A) producing products quicker, thus shortening the work week.
B) reducing the price of a product, thus increasing people's real income.
C) consuming fewer resources, thus improving the environment.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above is true. Automation always causes a net loss of jobs.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In some markets a few top performers receive a disproportionate share of the rewards. Frank and Cook call this phenomenon

A) capitalism.
B) inevitable.
C) liberalism.
D) socialism.
E) the winner-take-all effect.

Question 5

In 1997 IBM supercomputer Deep Blue

A) defeated world chess champion Gary Kasparov in a six-game match.
B) proved the existence of God.
C) drove a minivan across the United States.
D) designed the Pentium chip.
E) replaced John O'Leary as Chief Financial Officer of IBM.

Question 6

Productivity in the United States doubled between 1945 and 1990. However, the work week didn't get shorter because

A) income taxes were raised.
B) the standard of living increased.
C) corporate downsizing reduced the number of people in the workforce.
D) the pay of CEOs skyrocketed.
E) taxes doubled between 1945 and 1990.

Question 7

The process by which a new technology is assimilated into a society is called

A) cultural relativism.
B) globalization.
C) IT leverage.
D) social receptivity index.
E) technological diffusion.

Question 8

Manufacturing employment in the United States peaked

A) during World War II.
B) in 1959.
C) in 1979.
D) in 1999.
E) None of the above is true. Manufacturing employment in the United States continues to increase.

Question 9

Supply-chain automation

A) streamlines organizations by eliminating transactional middlemen.
B) is one way Dell Computer keeps its costs low.
C) links computers at different companies.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 10

The phrase "digital divide" refers to the situation where

A) some people have access to information technology and others do not.
B) users of Macintosh computers are at a disadvantage compared to users of Windows computers.
C) only stockholders in high-tech companies can get rich in the new economy.
D) the U.S. government prevents information technology from being exported to "unfriendly" countries.
E) the prices of computers are kept artificially high in order to keep them out of the hands of people in Third World countries.

Question 11

Globalization is

A) the creation of international computer networks.
B) the process of creating a worldwide network of businesses and markets.
C) the adoption of global Internet standards.
D) the adoption of English as the language of business.
E) the way that stock exchanges stay open 24 hours a day.

Question 12

Artificial intelligence is the field of computer science and engineering that focuses on ways to get machines to exhibit

A) consciousness.
B) ethical behavior.
C) intelligent behavior.
D) philosophical insights.
E) scientific breakthroughs.

Question 13

In medieval England, when wages went up,

A) more children joined the labor force.
B) more women joined the labor force.
C) students dropped out of school to take up jobs.
D) workers put in fewer hours.
E) A, B, and C.

Question 14

According to Max Weber, the growth of capitalism was stimulated by a new attitude toward work brought about by

A) the Industrial Revolution.
B) the Protestant Reformation.
C) the English Civil War.
D) the Lisbon earthquake of 1755.
E) the American Revolution.

Question 15

A personal AI is

A) an intelligent machine inexpensive enough for an individual to purchase it.
B) an intelligent machine devoted to serving an individual human being.
C) a computer capable of beating human beings at games such as chess.
D) a software program, not an actual physical object.
E) a machine conscious of its own existence.

Question 16

In 2011 a program named Watson running on an IBM supercomputer

A) decoded the human genome for the first time.
B) became the first computer program to take the job of a software engineer.
C) won the World Crossword Puzzle Championship sponsored by The New York Times.
D) defeated the two most successful human Jeopardy! champions in a three-game match.
E) passed the Turing Test in a competition sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery.