Question 1

The unevenness of economic development is commonly seen as a ______________ state of affairs because of the uneven geographical distribution of the bounty of nature.

Accepted Answer

The unevenness of economic development is often considered a natural, inevitable, and normal state of affairs due to the uneven geographical distribution of natural resources, which influences economic opportunities and growth differently across regions.

Question 2

"Environmental determinism" refers to a line of thinking using:

Accepted Answer

Environmental determinism posits that environmental factors—such as climate, geography, and natural resources—significantly shape the economic development, cultural practices, and societal structures of a region or civilization.

Question 3

A key argument of mainstream approaches to economic development over the last 50 years has been that:

Accepted Answer

Mainstream approaches to economic development often posit that with the right policies and strategies, all economies can develop, and over time, uneven growth will level out, leading to an equilibrium pattern of development. This encompasses the ideas in options A, B, and C.

Question 4

Conventional explanations of economic development seldom seek to explain how _____________ is created.

Accepted Answer

Conventional explanations of economic development seldom seek to explain how inequality, poverty, and wealth are created.

Question 5

Economic relationships involve the creation and __________________ of value.

Accepted Answer

Economic relationships involve the creation and distribution of value, as goods and services are produced and then distributed to consumers in various markets.

Question 6

"Use value" is defined as:

Accepted Answer

"Use value" refers to the benefit or utility derived from consuming or using a good or service, rather than its monetary worth or market value.

Question 7

"Exchange value" is defined as:

Accepted Answer

Exchange value refers to the monetary worth of a good or service in the context of market transactions, essentially how much something can be sold for or its price in a market economy.

Question 8

Ultimately, value is always created by:

Accepted Answer

Value is ultimately created by people because they are the ones who have the ideas and the ability to turn those ideas into reality. Nature provides the raw materials, but it is people who transform those materials into something valuable. Firms are simply organizations that bring people together to create value.

Question 9

The "labor process" includes:

Accepted Answer

The "labor process" encompasses all activities involved in producing goods and services, including making new products, transforming physical goods, and transforming intangible services.

Question 10

Which of the following represents an alternative approach to structuring the economic relationships of value creation:

Accepted Answer

All of the options listed (A: A peasant economy, B: A feudal economy, C: A cooperative economy) represent alternative approaches to structuring the economic relationships of value creation, differing from modern capitalist or market economies. Each system has its own unique way of organizing production, distribution, and consumption based on different principles and social relations.

Question 11

The owners of the "means of production" are:

Accepted Answer

The owners of the "means of production" typically refer to individuals or entities that own and control the tools, factories, land, and capital necessary for production. This does not include the industrial workforce, factory workers, or farm laborers, who generally do not own the means of production but rather work within systems owned by others.

Question 12

Growth in value rests on the exploitation of ______________ in the production process.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Growth in value rests on the exploitation...

Question 13

To maintain _______________, it is necessary for capitalism as a system to grow continually.

Accepted Answer

Capitalism relies on the continual growth to maintain profit, as profits are generated through expansion, innovation, and competition, driving the system's need for constant development and growth.

Question 14

A capitalist can create profit by extracting ____________________ from an employee.

Accepted Answer

Profit in a capitalist system is primarily generated through the extraction of surplus value from an employee's labor, where the value produced by the worker exceeds their wages.

Question 15

At its core, capitalism is about a structural relationship between:

Accepted Answer

Capitalism is fundamentally about the relationship between different social classes, particularly between those who own the means of production (capitalists) and those who sell their labor to the capitalists (workers). This structural relationship is central to the definition and function of capitalism.

Question 16

The possibilities for accumulating more and more profit mean that system-wide incentives exist for firms to create:

Accepted Answer

The drive for increased profits motivates firms to innovate in various ways, including creating new products, developing new markets, and finding new ways of organizing production processes.

Question 17

A term describing the capitalist process of generating new growth through the destruction of old products, processes, and markets and the creation of new ones:

Accepted Answer

The correct term is "creative destruction," which is not listed among the options. It refers to the process in capitalism where old products and processes are destroyed to make way for new innovations and growth.

Question 18

While growth increases the price of labor, a drive for profit requires that labor costs be:

Accepted Answer

A drive for profit typically requires that labor costs be minimized in order to reduce expenses and increase the margin between production costs and the selling price of goods or services.

Question 19

A "technological fix" refers to:

Accepted Answer

A "technological fix" encompasses all the described scenarios: making production more cost-efficient, replacing workers with machines, and encouraging the creation of a reserve army of labor through investments in labor-saving machinery.

Question 20

A term referring to a situation where capitalists have more products than they can sell, or idle machinery that cannot be used to full capacity because there is insufficient market demand for the product:

Accepted Answer

The term "Crisis of over-accumulation" refers to a situation where there is more production capacity and goods than the market can absorb, leading to idle machinery and unsold products. This concept is often discussed in Marxist economic theories and critiques of capitalism.

Quiz 3: Capitalism in Motion: Why Is Economic Growth so Uneven