Deck 8: The Economy

Question 1

People who are producing, exchanging, and distributing goods and services are engaged in a(n) __________.

A) economic activity
B) consumer sentiment
C) standard of living
D) mixed economy

Answer 1

economic activity

Question 2

The total value of all the final goods produced in a year by a given nation is called the __________.

A) economic activity
B) gross domestic product
C) standard of living
D) consumer sentiment

Answer 2

gross domestic product

Question 3

Standard of living is defined as the __________.

A) feelings, moods, and sentiments that drive consumer decisions to spend or not to spend
B) total value of all the final goods produced in a year by a given nation
C) belief that the government is responsible for guaranteeing a minimum standard of living for everyone
D) level of material comfort available to a population

Answer 3

level of material comfort available to a population

Question 4

On a per capita basis, __________ is among the wealthiest countries in the world and __________ is among the poorest.

A) the United States; Saudi Arabia
B) Mexico; China
C) Canada; the United Kingdom
D) Monaco; Somalia

Question 5

What does the evidence suggest about the American economy?

A) The U.S. economy is diminishing and soon other industrialized nations will surpass the United States.
B) The U.S. economy is so large that it will remain the dominant economy in the world for the near future.
C) No other nation has an economy anywhere near the size and power of the U.S. economy.
D) There is no way to know the details about other nations' economies for comparison purposes.

Question 6

Which of the following is a limitation of using the GDP as a measure of economic performance?

A) It does not take into consideration how the economy intersects with race, class, and gender.
B) It overestimates the costs of environmental harm.
C) It takes into consideration economic activities that do not have an attached price, thereby skewing the results.
D) It is based on a comparative method of evaluating the GDP against other economic measures.

Question 7

The feelings, moods, and thoughts that drive consumer decisions to spend or not to spend are known as __________.

A) economic activity
B) standard of living
C) consumer sentiment
D) gross domestic product

Question 8

Which of the following is an example of how consumer sentiments vary by political sentiments?

A) The political party of the president in office has no impact on consumer sentiment.
B) When Barack Obama became president in 2008, consumer sentiment decreased among both Democrats and Republicans.
C) When Barack Obama became president in 2008, consumer sentiment increased among Democrats but decreased among Republicans.
D) After the 2016 presidential election, consumer sentiment fell sharply for both Democrats and Republicans.

Question 9

Who was the founder of the set of economic principles that became the intellectual foundation of capitalism?

A) Karl Marx
B) Adam Smith
C) Thorstein Veblen
D) Emile Durkheim

Question 10

The law of supply and demand can be described as __________.

A) natural
B) social insurance
C) an invisible hand
D) socialist

Question 11

Under a policy of __________, the government should not closely regulate the marketplace nor establish government enterprises to compete with private businesses.

A) economic sentiments
B) laissez-faire
C) nationalization
D) socialism

Question 12

Which of the following is a characteristic of capitalism?

A) state ownership of the means of production
B) state control of the economy
C) public ownership of utilities
D) private ownership of property

Question 13

During the Great Recession, the U.S. federal government "bailed out" __________.

A) the railroad system
B) the oil industry
C) the stock market
D) General Motors and Chrysler

Question 14

Which of the following is a problem associated with socialist societies?

A) excessive bureaucratization
B) state control of the economy
C) laissez-faire policies
D) market forces that have side effects that harm society

Question 15

Socialism is defined as an economic system in which __________.

A) the major means of production and the distribution and production of major goods and services are in private hands and the main goal is maximizing profit
B) the state owns the major means of production, but the distribution of major goods and services is in private hands for the accumulation of profits
C) the state owns the major means of production and directs the production and distribution of major goods and services to maximize the well-being of the collectivity
D) the state owns the major means of production and seeks to maximize the economic gain of individuals

Question 16

Even though the United States is among the most capitalist economies in the world, the nation began to converge toward a more socialist economy during the __________.

A) Great Depression of the 1930s
B) post-World War II era
C) period just after 9/11
D) Great Recession of 2007-2008

Question 17

__________ theorists argue that capitalist economies generate inequality because power flows to those who own or control the means of production.

A) Functional
B) Conflict
C) Symbolic interaction
D) Socialist

Question 18

According to the __________ perspective, a close connection between the economy and political institutions allows for greater efficiency in directing and managing the resources of society.

A) functional
B) conflict
C) symbolic interaction
D) socialist

Question 19

According to the __________ perspective, capitalist societies adapt well to changes in their environment due to continuous innovation.

A) functional
B) conflict
C) symbolic interaction
D) socialist

Question 20

Veblen goods are usually __________.

A) social and cultural norms
B) considered high-culture art
C) status symbols
D) stigmatizing symbols

Question 21

Which of the following is true of the symbolic interaction perspective on the economy?

A) Images have little to do with how the public perceives a product.
B) Symbols and images were more important in the 1950s than they are today.
C) When people buy goods and services, they are simply acquiring something that has only an economic value.
D) Most companies market their products primarily in terms of symbols rather than price.

Question 22

The process of acquiring knowledge and ways of thinking about work and careers is known as __________.

A) career socialization
B) occupational inheritance
C) innovation
D) exchange

Question 23

Which of the following is an example of how people's identities become commodified?

A) Sean needs a new baseball mitt for the upcoming season on his high school team. He goes to his local Walmart to purchase one.
B) Chandler wants new shoes. She does not necessarily need new shoes, but she has noticed several of the popular girls at school wearing TOMS, so she asks her mother to spend the extra money so Chandler will appear cool.
C) Junior has been saving his money to buy a car. He would really like to have a BMW but he cannot afford that right now, so instead he buys a Honda.
D) Nadia notices that several students on campus have MacBooks, and she desperately wants one. However, all she can afford right now is a PC that is a few hundred dollars. Reluctantly, she buys the PC.

Question 24

If Professor Washington brings her daughter to campus frequently, lets her sit in on class lectures, and brings her to faculty dinners, what process is she engaging in?

A) exchange
B) innovation
C) Veblen goods
D) occupational inheritance

Question 25

Which of the following would be considered a formal agent of career socialization?

A) parents and family
B) peer group
C) mass media
D) schools

Question 26

Which of the following is true of interlocking directorates?

A) Federal law is not concerned with who sits on boards of directors of more than one company.
B) Critics claim that these interlocking boards informally work together to maximize the collective welfare of numerous companies.
C) Corporate America is a purely rational, impersonal economic system that does not run on shared opinions and values.
D) Interlocking directorates serve the purpose of driving the economy along a path that benefits the entire society.

Question 27

__________ are giant corporations composed of other corporations.

A) Interlocking directorates
B) Conglomerates
C) Multinationals
D) Businesses

Question 28

__________ revenues rank as the fourth-largest economy in the world (behind the United States, China, and Japan).

A) Shell's
B) BP's
C) Walmart's
D) McDonald's

Question 29

__________ is an emotional state in which people, having lost control over their lives, are estranged from their social world and feel that life is meaningless.

A) Work
B) Alienation
C) False consciousness
D) Class consciousness

Question 30

After workers organized into unions and governments passed regulations on working conditions, how did management respond?

A) It established fair workplace conditions.
B) It turned the work organization into a game in which workers are motivated to compete among themselves to outdo each other in work performance.
C) It eliminated work quotas so that all workers earn fair and decent wages.
D) It raised employee morale by providing equal opportunities for all employees.

Question 31

When viewed from a Marxian perspective, how is the game understood?

A) When workers succeed, they feel empowered and morale is good. This is good for workers and management.
B) The possibility of advancement encourages workers to compete among themselves for promotion.
C) Management encourages the game as a legitimate way to reward workers for their performance.
D) Workers are being duped to feel that they are being empowered, but they are being manipulated to satisfy the goals of management.

Question 32

__________ refers to a policy of promoting current employees rather than looking outside the company for people to hire.

A) Internal labor market
B) De-skilling
C) De-professionalization
D) Career socialization

Question 33

Once scientific management becomes widespread, the workforce becomes __________.

A) de-skilled
B) professionalized
C) more knowledgeable
D) more highly skilled

Question 34

Which of the following is true about scientific management?

A) It was predicted by early sociologists including Emile Durkheim and Max Weber.
B) It applies the objective logic of science to the process of work.
C) Under scientific management, work is completed by a single skilled artisan who spends hours on the task and takes great pride in the work.
D) It leads to jobs that must be performed by workers who are highly educated and specially trained.

Question 35

De-skilled is defined as __________.

A) a loss of knowledge, experience, or talent necessary to perform a job
B) the objective logic of science applied to the process of work
C) a loss of skills and knowledge necessary to perform an intricate and complicated job
D) machines that supplement human workers

Question 36

A recent report found that one factory in China has replaced 90 percent of its human workers with robots, which has resulted in fewer defects and an increase in production. Now, only a few humans are required to keep an eye on the robots and carry out their maintenance. This scenario illustrates the concept of __________.

A) automation
B) de-professionalization
C) de-centralization
D) alienation

Question 37

Which of the following exemplifies de-professionalization?

A) the lack of customer service in most retail and food-service jobs
B) the informality of workplace attire
C) teens getting their first jobs at McDonald's
D) obstetricians being replaced by midwives

Question 38

Which of the following types of workers is likely to see the greatest increase in demand in the future?

A) food service workers
B) personal and home health care aides
C) retail and grocery store clerks
D) social workers

Question 39

Which of the following is true about the workforce in a liquid society?

A) Workers are more likely to stay in their jobs for more than five years.
B) Individuals' connections to the economy are stable, fixed, and resistant to change.
C) The economy is constantly churning with new technologies, and markets are volatile and unpredictable.
D) Because jobs are more secure and stable, people are more likely to own homes and raise families in a consistent community.

Question 40

People who are without a job but who are actively seeking work are considered __________.

A) employed
B) unemployed
C) not in the labor force
D) discouraged workers

Question 41

Which of the following explains why the unemployment rate is one of the most closely watched indexes of the economy?

A) The higher the unemployment rate, the better the economy, and the higher the well-being of the population.
B) Times of high unemployment are times of higher morale in a society.
C) High unemployment results in the de-skilling and automation of jobs.
D) The unemployed pay little or no taxes, and many of them may require government support.

Question 42

Currently, __________ percent of adults in the United States are employed.

A) 40
B) 50
C) 60
D) 70

Question 43

__________ refers to insecurity due to the lack of permanence of one's job.

A) Job-loss anxiety
B) De-professionalization
C) De-skilling
D) Alienation

Question 44

The greatest feelings of job security typically can be found in people with __________.

A) fast-food work experience
B) high school diplomas
C) degrees in higher education
D) low levels of job satisfaction

Question 45

Which of the following is true about race/ethnicity and the economy?

A) All racial/ethnic groups experience about the same rate of unemployment.
B) Whites have the lowest unemployment rate among the racial/ethnic groups.
C) Latinos have the highest unemployment rate among the racial/ethnic groups.
D) The Black unemployment rate is usually about twice as high as the White rate.

Question 46

People with __________ experience lower unemployment than people with __________.

A) less education; more education
B) high school diplomas; bachelor's degrees
C) more education; less education
D) bachelor's degrees; doctoral degrees

Question 47

Selling drugs, winning an office lottery, and earning money babysitting are all considered __________.

A) participation in the paid labor force
B) participation in the shadow economy
C) contributions to the government Medicare system
D) examples of discouraged workers

Question 48

Which crime constitutes an important part of the shadow economy to the tune of $1 trillion annually?

A) drugs
B) sex trafficking
C) bribery
D) illegal gun sales

Question 49

Which of the following would be considered contributing to the shadow economy?

A) working at McDonald's
B) being employed by a small diner as a server
C) working for a large agricultural company
D) gambling

Question 50

Which of the following is true of the shadow economy?

A) Only a small percentage of workers in the world participate in the shadow economy.
B) The shadow economy fulfills functions like the open economy.
C) Participation in the shadow economy does not mean a person is employed.
D) All money traded in the shadow economy gets reported to the government.

Question 51

What are some of the negative social consequences of capitalism?

Question 52

Explain the symbolic interaction perspective on the economy, and discuss career socialization.

Question 53

Discuss how work is viewed from a Marxian perspective.

Question 54

Explain scientific management and describe the processes of de-skilling and de-professionalization. Give examples of each process.

Question 55

How do unemployment and underemployment affect not only the individual, but also the larger society?