Deck 11: The Economy and Work

Question 1

In the United Kingdom, the government owns the British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC, which is the world's largest television and radio broadcasting service. This tells you that the United Kingdom is

A) an example of pure socialism.
B) deregulated.
C) partially socialist.
D) totally capitalist.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The change that was associated with the Industrial Revolution was

A) decreased life expectancy.
B) increased infant mortality.
C) a significant population boom.
D) less stable and reliable access to food supplies.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

One of the primary principles of capitalism is

A) privatization of the means of production.
B) collective distribution of goods and services.
C) a focus on meeting the basic needs of all citizens.
D) government regulation of industry.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The ________ was a macro-level social change that resulted in new innovations in farming such as mechanized seed spreaders and new techniques of crop rotation.

A) Instrumental Revolution
B) Information Revolution
C) Great Depression
D) Agricultural Revolution

Question 5

"Fordism" is a system characterized by the increasingly efficient mass production of goods. Why is this system called "Fordism"?

A) Many of the changes that led to this economic system happened during the administration of President Gerald Ford.
B) It is named after the famous filmmaker John Ford, whose movies depicted the transformation to an industrial economy.
C) It is an acronym for Fully Operational Research Design, which is the method by which the economy was modernized.
D) It is named after Henry Ford, who is credited with inventing the assembly line.

Question 6

The ________ helped to bring about the Industrial Revolution.

A) jet airplane
B) automobile
C) Internet
D) steam engine

Question 7

Cuba's communist government has recently introduced reforms that make it easier to attract tourists. Consequently, many skilled professionals have started working in the tourism industry to earn more money regardless of their degrees. Of what is this a sign?

A) the impending collapse of the Cuban government
B) the poor health of Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro
C) the important role the U.S. government plays in Cuba
D) the increasingly important role capitalism plays in Cuba

Question 8

Under modern capitalism, a firm experiencing a strike can keep labor costs low by doing which of the following?

A) Move operations to a country where workers do not have the right to strike.
B) Terminate union contracts.
C) Break up a union.
D) Invoke a union's wage hardship clause.

Question 9

Many people felt dissatisfied working on assembly lines because

A) assembly lines were not a very efficient way to produce things.
B) assembly lines made goods more expensive.
C) assembly lines forced people from different racial and ethnic groups to work together.
D) workers never had the satisfaction of seeing the finished product.

Question 10

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." This slogan could only be fully realized with

A) pure capitalism.
B) a mixture of capitalism and socialism.
C) a mixture of capitalism and communism.
D) pure communism.

Question 11

In 2005, teaching assistants at the University of Oregon went on strike. Which aspect of their job made it easier for them to strike than most American workers?

A) The public is much more sympathetic to academic workers.
B) They have better contracts.
C) They have more cultural capital, and therefore can better strategize about how to make a strike succeed.
D) Their jobs cannot be moved overseas.

Question 12

________ is/are the technological development MOST associated with the Information Revolution.

A) The jet airplane
B) The microchip
C) Spreadsheets and email
D) Container ships

Question 13

The Industrial Revolution began in the

A) 1600s.
B) 1700s.
C) 1800s.
D) 1900s.

Question 14

Some for-profit higher education institutions receive a large proportion of tuition payments via government grants and loans. These institutions may often attempt to enroll as many students as possible, regardless of their actual preparation for college. Thus, many suggest that for-profit higher education institutions are benefiting from a version of

A) socialism.
B) knowledge work.
C) outsourcing.
D) corporate welfare.

Question 15

What do workers have available to sell in a capitalist system?

A) raw materials
B) stocks and bonds
C) their own labor
D) different kinds of commodities

Question 16

Beyond just money, the economy is about

A) the people who are most important to an individual's sense of self.
B) the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
C) encouraging cooperation over competition.
D) rituals and beliefs that divide the world into the sacred and the profane.

Question 17

What is the economic system based on collective ownership of the means of production and collective distribution of goods and services called?

A) capitalism
B) classical liberalism
C) communism
D) socialism

Question 18

According to the text, what is the MOST extreme form of socialism called?

A) capitalism
B) communism
C) Fordism
D) conflict theory

Question 19

The change that caused people to migrate to cities from rural areas at high rates was the

A) switch to a manufacturing economy.
B) development of crop rotation and better animal husbandry techniques.
C) switch from a manufacturing economy to an information economy.
D) emancipation of slaves in the United States.

Question 20

How are workers' situations different in socialist versus capitalist economies?

A) Workers in a socialist economy have less protection from the welfare state than those in a capitalist economy.
B) Workers in a socialist economy are more vulnerable to elimination of jobs by technological innovation than those in a capitalist economy.
C) Workers in a socialist economy do not enjoy the same consumption patterns as those in a capitalist economy.
D) Workers' jobs in a socialist economy are more vulnerable to elimination resulting from the movement of transnational capital than those in a capitalist economy.

Question 21

Telecommuting increases worker productivity because

A) it allows employees to spend less time with their families.
B) there is no office gossip to distract telecommuters.
C) people who work from home tend to work longer hours.
D) telecommuters must usually provide a concrete measure of their accomplishments, not just show up.

Question 22

How did the Industrial Revolution create "work" in the modern sense?

A) It used machines to produce more goods, more efficiently.
B) Work only became possible when a variety of consumer goods were made available in the market.
C) It was the first time class struggle existed in society.
D) It made the worker more autonomous.

Question 23

Donald Roy's classic study of the workplace called "Banana Time" showed that

A) knowledge workers need more coffee breaks than service workers do.
B) communities of coping emerge with co-workers during coffee breaks.
C) telecommuting will destroy the sense of community among co-workers.
D) play emerges in even the most harsh and strenuous work environments.

Question 24

A benefit of telecommuting is that

A) it draws more people to large urban areas.
B) it encourages workers to keep a rigid work schedule.
C) businesses get increased productivity and fewer sick days.
D) it makes it easier for workers to brainstorm and share ideas.

Question 25

The Information Revolution changed the nature of work and the economy because it has

A) slowed down the process of globalization.
B) made it less likely that individuals will be able to work from home.
C) shifted the economy toward the production of knowledge and services.
D) made companies more likely to manufacture and sell goods within a single nation.

Question 26

According to Karl Marx, surplus value comes from

A) selling goods to overseas markets where demand is higher.
B) finding ever-cheaper ways of processing raw materials.
C) paying workers less than the value of what they create.
D) the added value owners bring to a manufactured product.

Question 27

How could the Information Revolution affect urbanization?

A) Cities might grow because technology makes them even more attractive places to live.
B) It could not affect urbanization at all.
C) Cities might shrink because people will spend even more time in direct contact with one another.
D) Cities might shrink because people can live anywhere and still work at the same job.

Question 28

According to Barbara Ehrenreich, which of these behaviors can help those with minimum-wage service jobs to get ahead and move up in the world?

A) save at least 10 percent of their paychecks every month
B) avoid having children
C) go back to school
D) none of these answers, as there is no way for minimum-wage workers to move up in the world

Question 29

Someone who works primarily with information and develops or uses knowledge in the workplace is called a(n) ________ worker.

A) knowledge
B) service
C) industrial
D) social

Question 30

How has the Information Revolution changed the nature of work?

A) Employees are less easily distracted by outside influences since they can remain working on the Internet.
B) The importance of the physical space in which work is done has been greatly diminished.
C) Employee compensation has greatly increased.
D) Productivity has declined.

Question 31

In 2008 and 2009, the Obama administration's United States government initiated a large-scale economic bailout of the banking and auto industries. The government invested enormous amounts of money and, as a result, became the majority shareholder in some corporations. According to the text, this means that the United States

A) is an example of pure capitalism.
B) is a mostly capitalist nation, but it also has a degree of socialism in government subsidies to businesses.
C) had a socialist economy under President Barack Obama.
D) has always been primarily socialist, so the bailout is nothing new.

Question 32

What changes in the economy would be associated with travel agents hiring inmates in minimum-security prisons to take calls and schedule vacations for customers?

A) the increasingly socialist features of the American economy
B) the Industrial Revolution
C) the growth of information technology
D) the rise of capitalism

Question 33

________ might be alleviated if more Americans were encouraged to telecommute.

A) Pollution
B) Anomie
C) The breakdown of social networks
D) Crime

Question 34

What do you think Barbara Ehrenreich would say about efforts to reform welfare, which attempted to move people off welfare rolls and into minimum-wage jobs?

A) She would disapprove because she thinks that low-wage work is demeaning and insufficient for survival.
B) She would approve because she thinks that welfare is demeaning.
C) She would disapprove because she thinks that new immigrants better fill minimum-wage jobs.
D) She would approve because she believes that welfare breeds dependency and low self-esteem.

Question 35

Many customer service representatives with whom we talk over the phone are based in India. Which of the following terms applies to this phenomenon?

A) unionization
B) collective resistance
C) supersectors
D) the death of distance

Question 36

Advertising, engineering, marketing, product design, and web design are all examples of ________ work.

A) traditional
B) knowledge
C) industrial
D) computer-assisted

Question 37

________ might be made worse if more people were encouraged to telecommute.

A) Poverty
B) Intellectual property theft
C) Cancer and other new health problems
D) Alienation and loneliness

Question 38

Regarding class conflict, Karl Marx argues that

A) there have been class conflicts throughout all of human history.
B) class conflict is a product of the Industrial Revolution.
C) class conflict was first experienced during the Middle Ages, and modern society inherited it.
D) class conflict is uniquely a feature of the Information Revolution.

Question 39

Karl Marx believed that workers in a capitalist economy experience alienation because

A) shallow consumerism does not give them something to believe in and work for.
B) they are surrounded by images and representations that do not relate to reality.
C) they are often poor and deprived of their basic needs.
D) they are paid for their labor but do not own the things they produce.

Question 40

Workers in large department stores usually are paid on commission, which means they are in direct competition with their fellow employees. According to Karl Marx, these workers may experience

A) the Industrial Revolution.
B) premodernism.
C) alienation.
D) knowledge workers.

Question 41

In which decade did the Information Revolution begin?

A) 1950s
B) 1970s
C) 1980s
D) 1990s

Question 42

What disadvantages result from increased international trade, according to critics of globalization?

A) Multinational corporations will increasingly shape the policies of governments.
B) More consumer goods will be produced.
C) Prices of goods and services will decline.
D) People will gain exposure to different cultures.

Question 43

How has union membership changed in recent years?

A) Membership has steeply declined.
B) It has not changed.
C) Membership has greatly increased.
D) Membership has slightly increased.

Question 44

In which year did the Industrial Revolution begin in England with the invention of the steam engine?

A) 1717
B) 1752
C) 1769
D) 1803

Question 45

Barbara Ehrenreich explored some of the issues of power and service work in her book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America (2001). As research for the book, Ehrenreich took minimum-wage service jobs as a waitress, a hotel maid, and a Walmart employee. What was her main finding?

A) She found that jobs that gave opportunities to be paid "under the table" were better for individual economic stability.
B) She found that service workers often worked three jobs to make ends meet.
C) She found that service workers in these types of jobs are likely to be exploited in a number of ways.
D) She found that service workers' families suffered the most due to their absence.

Question 46

Which area of the economy has seen increases in union membership since the early 1970s?

A) the information economy
B) the manufacturing sector
C) the public sector
D) the private sector

Question 47

What are the consequences of scripting workers' interactions with customers, according to Robin Leidner's Fast Food, Fast Talk?

A) It makes interactions more fluid.
B) It makes communication easier and leads to happier workers.
C) It makes customers feel important.
D) It is damaging to workers and suppresses their real selves.

Question 48

Strikes are different from acts of resistance like daydreaming on the job because they are

A) solitary.
B) unethical.
C) collective.
D) illegal.

Question 49

Large social and economic changes followed from the domestication of plants and animals and the gradually increasing efficiency of food production. What do scholars call this type of revolution?

A) industrial
B) domestic
C) agricultural
D) farming

Question 50

Which of the following examples highlights the autonomy experienced by knowledge workers such as those who work at Google?

A) They often have the freedom to take breaks when they choose.
B) Everyone is their "own boss."
C) Google employees don't work under a contract system and are free to come and go as they like.
D) They can start and stop on projects whenever they like.

Question 51

An association of workers who organize to improve their economic status and working conditions is called

A) a union.
B) the Third Sector.
C) a nonprofit.
D) a sweatshop.

Question 52

What are the tactics used by workers to reclaim control of the conditions of their labor called?

A) knowledge work
B) resistance strategies
C) service work
D) collective bargaining

Question 53

What has an office worker engaged in, although it may not seem like much, when they bring in a plant to brighten up their cubicle?

A) an act of collective resistance
B) a sign of nonalienation in labor
C) a postmodern gesture
D) an act of individual resistance

Question 54

Who led campaigns to end child labor and increase workplace safety?

A) women's groups
B) chambers of commerce
C) unions
D) the federal government

Question 55

What is it an example of when office workers hang pictures in their cubicles or waste time daydreaming while on the clock?

A) individual resistance
B) slacking
C) sticking it to the man
D) collective resistance

Question 56

What effect did the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 have on unions?

A) It gave unions greater power.
B) It prohibited government workers from unionizing.
C) It instituted limits on secondary strikes and boycotts.
D) It made unions illegal.

Question 57

The cultural and economic changes that result from dramatic increases in international trade and exchange are called

A) commodity stops.
B) runaway shops.
C) globalization.
D) shallow integration.

Question 58

The textbook suggests that not all corporations are evil and states that corporations are adopting new forms of self-regulation as well as taking proactive measures to integrate social and ethical concerns into their business models. This is part of a movement called "CSR." What does "CSR" stand for?

A) corporate self-regulation
B) conscience, solutions, reform
C) customer service representative
D) corporate social responsibility

Question 59

What economic change has made it more difficult for workers to strike effectively?

A) the increasing availability of communications technology
B) a strong, organized working class in the United States
C) the ease with which manufacturing firms can move operations to another country
D) the increasing role played by nonprofits and Third Sector organizations

Question 60

How are strictly controlled workers within bureaucracies different from robots?

A) Human workers need forms of upkeep.
B) Human workers can resist and undermine the bureaucratic restraints that limit their autonomy.
C) Human workers are more reliable.
D) Human workers are cheaper.

Question 61

New plows and seed spreaders were only made possible because of the Industrial Revolution.

Question 62

Martha makes a living working four different jobs. In the morning she walks dogs for four neighbors on her block, then she picks up and delivers groceries for Instacart. In the afternoons and evenings, she likes to either drive passengers around using Lyft or provide childcare using KangaDo. What term best describes the modern type of economy that creates Martha's employment options?

A) service
B) knowledge
C) gig
D) outsourcing

Question 63

Corporations with decision-making, production, and distribution operations spread all over the world are characteristic of

A) industrialization.
B) runaway shops.
C) deep integration.
D) shallow integration.

Question 64

What term is used for the group of nonprofit organizations that are designed to run as cost-effectively as possible and to direct any earnings back into the causes they support?

A) technology firms
B) the Third Sector
C) multinational corporations
D) transnational corporations

Question 65

In June 2017, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

Question 66

What is it an example of when liquor stores in the United States import wine made entirely from French grapes and bottled in France or beer brewed from grain and hops grown in Holland?

A) shallow integration
B) deep integration
C) postindustrial work
D) transnational corporations

Question 67

The fact that almost all of the small electronics used in the United States are made in Asia is an illustration of

A) the Industrial Revolution.
B) globalization.
C) the rise of cybernetics.
D) collective resistance.

Question 68

Capitalism and socialism are two examples of political systems throughout the world.

Question 69

Think about the process by which most athletic shoes are made. Which part of the global commodity chain for these shoes would you be MOST surprised to find in Indonesia?

A) the advertising firm that scripted the commercial
B) the forest where rubber trees are grown to make the elastic parts of the shoes
C) the factory where the shoes are assembled and sewed
D) the farms where the cotton is grown

Question 70

"Rogue" agencies posting information on Twitter to make it available to the public is an example of individual resistance to bureaucratic organizations.

Question 71

Firms that purposely transcend national borders so that their products can be manufactured at sites all over the world are called

A) transnational corporations.
B) sweatshops.
C) runaway shops.
D) globalization.

Question 72

How are "gold farms," such as those set up to play World of Warcraft, different from traditional sweatshops?

A) They usually meet minimum working standards for health and safety.
B) They purchase and consume virtual goods instead of material goods.
C) They may not pay much better wages, but the work is much more entertaining.
D) They exploit workers to produce virtual goods instead of material goods.

Question 73

Which of the following groups is engaged in contingent work?

A) independent contractors
B) teachers
C) service workers
D) knowledge workers

Question 74

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days of the year for many soup kitchens and other groups that provide food to the homeless and the poor. It is also one of the biggest days of the year for volunteers, as many people donate their time and efforts, which makes them, even if just for the day, part of the

A) Third Sector.
B) global commodity chain.
C) postmodern economy.
D) contingent workforce.

Question 75

Resistance strategies relate to the variety of ways in which individuals and groups cope with their working conditions.

Question 76

Why would a company outsource or contract out labor it might otherwise employ its own staff to perform?

A) Its customers demand it.
B) It is cheaper.
C) The staff available is not fully qualified.
D) It cares about quality.

Question 77

What are networks of corporations, product designers and engineers, manufacturing firms, distribution channels, and consumer outlets that create products called?

A) assembly lines
B) worker co-ops
C) commodity chains
D) runaway shops

Question 78

According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, an employer that violates more than one federal or state labor law concerning wages, overtime, child labor, safety and health, or industrial regulation is classified as a(n)

A) postmodern corporation.
B) runaway shop.
C) independent contractor.
D) sweatshop.

Question 79

What is it called when nations compete to attract transnational corporations by undercutting their citizens' wages or offering tax incentives?

A) collective resistance strategies
B) the collective distribution of goods and services
C) the race to the bottom
D) postindustrial union bargaining

Question 80

What is a sweatshop?

A) a workplace with a workforce composed primarily of white people whose jobs make them sweat
B) a workplace that manufactures sporting goods
C) a workplace that purposely transcends national borders
D) a workplace with poor working conditions, below-standard wages, and long hours