Deck 4: The Nature of Capitalism

Question 1

Which statement accurately describes capitalism?

A) Industrial capitalism is characterized by pools, trusts, holding companies and an interpenetration of banking, insurance and industrial interests.
B) Mercantile capitalism emerged in the United States in the period directly following the civil war.
C) 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.
D) Financial capitalism developed in the period immediately prior to the Renaissance.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is an accurate statement?

A) Adam Smith defends capitalism by appealing to the idea of a natural, moral right to property.
B) Adam Smith denies that human beings are, by nature, acquisitive creatures.
C) A 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.
D) Utilitarians oppose capitalism in principle.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following accurately reflects the concept of Marxism?

A) It is only within a capitalist economic system that workers are not alienated from the products of their labor.
B) Only workers who are poorly paid for their labor are alienated.
C) Within a capitalist economic system, the activity of labor is an end in itself and, as a result, has intrinsic value.
D) 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.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Marxism states

A) capitalism leads to a concentration of property and thus a concentration of resources and power in relatively few hands.
B) socialism will eventually be replaced by financial capitalism.
C) the means of production should be placed under the control of the bourgeoisie.
D) only workers who are poorly paid in a capitalist system are alienated.

Question 5

A basic premise of Adam Smith's invisible hand argument is

A) human beings try to avoid acquisitive behavior.
B) when people are left to pursue their own economic interests, disaster looms.
C) the division of labor, though good for the firm, reduces overall efficiency.
D) We often get what we want from others by offering something they need from us.

Question 6

Some critics of capitalism believe that it rests on a flawed view of human beings because

A) capitalism produces equality.
B) capitalism eliminates poverty.
C) capitalism assumes that well-being comes from greater material consumption.
D) capitalism offers a higher sense of purpose.

Question 7

Karl Marx believed that

A) capitalist workers suffer from alienation.
B) capitalism no longer exploits workers.
C) industrialization does away with alienation.
D) workers are alienated from their products, but not from themselves or other people.

Question 8

Which of the following historical stages of capitalism came first?

A) financial
B) mercantile
C) industrial
D) state welfare

Question 9

Which statement best describes capitalism?

A) Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production and distribution is in state hands.
B) Capitalism is an economic system that operates under the profit motive.
C) Capitalism is an economic system that dispenses with competition.
D) Capitalism is an economic system where the profits generated belong to the state as a whole.

Question 10

An exclusive focus on short-term performance

A) is the best guarantee of a company's long-term performance.
B) has helped to create a high-pressure environment conducive to fraud.
C) encourages long-term research and development.
D) hurts stock prices.

Question 11

According to one survey of cultural values

A) Americans value work more than Japanese do.
B) for Americans, only good health is more important than work.
C) Americans typically value things like their children's education and a satisfactory love life more than work.
D) Americans place no value on work, only on money.

Question 12

A basic tenet of capitalism is that

A) property refers only to physical objects.
B) ownership is a simple relationship between a person and the thing owned.
C) capitalism requires private ownership of the major means of production.
D) in the 21st century, capitalism no longer requires capital.

Question 13

One reason for believing that in practice capitalism fails to live up to its own ideal of competition is

A) we have government subsidies and protective tariffs.
B) monopolies control almost all areas of economic life.
C) so many small companies go bankrupt.
D) the outsourcing of jobs.

Question 14

One of the key features of capitalism is

A) favoritism.
B) cooperation.
C) inequality.
D) competition.

Question 15

For employees who are paid handsomely for their efforts, Marx said their work would ultimately prove to be

A) profitable to them.
B) expensive to them.
C) meaningless to them.
D) tireless.

Question 16

The concept of the "invisible hand" means

A) pursuit of private gain will bring the best overall results.
B) although it can't be seen, the hand of government controls the economy.
C) feudalism inevitably gives rise to capitalism.
D) externalities must be internalized.

Question 17

For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, less than _____ percent of the American workforce was employed by manufacturing.

A) 10
B) 25
C) 50
D) 62

Question 18

The profit motive

A) is a fundamental feature of all societies.
B) is no longer a key feature of capitalism.
C) must be checked by competition if society is to benefit.
D) is basically immoral.

Question 19

An assessment of work in America is

A) American manufacturing is growing faster than ever.
B) American corporations ignore short-term performance.
C) manufacturing still employs more people than government.
D) many manufacturing companies have become "hollow" or "weightless".

Question 20

Evidence for the idea that American manufacturing is declining is

A) the fact that government now employs more people than manufacturing.
B) a reluctance to outsource.
C) fewer "hollow" corporations.
D) a shrinking trade deficit.

Question 21

Rather than strong work ethic, a common attitude is:

A) Me-first
B) Happy days are here to stay
C) I like it easy
D) Let the boss sweat it

Question 22

Some critics believe that "competition is not a good" because trying to do well and trying to beat others are two different things.

Question 23

The Fugger dynasty was an example of

A) industrial capitalism.
B) mercantile capitalism.
C) financial capitalism.
D) globalized capitalism.

Question 24

Capital is that money that is invested for the purpose of making more money.

Question 25

Companies that in years past were identified with making goods of all sorts now are likely to produce only the package and the label.

Question 26

How many Americans believe that "if you work hard enough, you'll make it?"

A) One out of two.
B) One out of three.
C) One out of four.
D) One out of five.

Question 27

Capitalism is possible without private property.

Question 28

Utilitarians reject the very idea of a natural right to property.

Question 29

The capitalism that we know today in the United States is a "pure" form of laissez-faire capitalism.

Question 30

Outsourcing is a practice where companies buy parts or whole products from other producers, both at home and abroad.

Question 31

Many economists are concerned that the growing trade deficit makes the U.S. vulnerable to

A) terrorist attacks.
B) depression.
C) ease.
D) economic extortion.

Question 32

Adam Smith claims that the people seeking self-interest in a free market through competition can benefit society as a whole.

Question 33

Though many jobs are outsourced, most economists believe

A) Mexico is the place to work.
B) the United States is in trouble.
C) the economy will create new jobs in the USA.
D) manufacturing will make a comeback.

Question 34

If it's true that individuals have a natural right to own property, then there can be no limits on this right.

Question 35

According to Marx, when workers are alienated they are not truly free.

Question 36

According to Alfie Kohn, competition promotes individual and group achievement better than cooperation.

Question 37

Socialism is an economic system characterized by public ownership of property and a planned economy.

Question 38

According to a socialist, the best economic system would be one where the means of production and distribution are in the hands of the bourgeoisie.

Question 39

Worker control socialism is a hybrid economic system with no marketplace and no profits.

Question 40

None of the specific measures proposed by Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto have been implemented in capitalist countries.

Question 41

As a classical moral justification of capitalism, the natural right to property is a utilitarian justification.

Question 42

According to Adam Smith, the division of labor decreases economic activity.

Question 43

What we call capitalism did not fully emerge until the Renaissance in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries.

Question 44

The sense of private property that is central to capitalism is the ownership of the means of production and distribution.

Question 45

The U. S. trade deficit has shrunk significantly in recent decades.

Question 46

Socialism is an economic system characterized by public ownership of the means of production and distribution, and a planned economy.

Question 47

Government programs often subsidize American businesses and protect them from competition.

Question 48

Implicit in capitalism is the view that human beings aim to maximize their economic self-interest.

Question 49

According to John Stuart Mill, what makes capitalism a desirable economic system is the type of worker-capitalist relationship inherent in capitalism.

Question 50

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.