Deck 10: The Economy

Question 1

What factors encouraged an increase in agricultural production during the 19th century?

A) Railways
B) Roads
C) Canals
D) Fertilizers
E) Cheap immigrant labour

Answer 1

A,B,C
Explanation: In addition to the transportation revolution, they were added by financial support from the government and protectionism.

Question 2

Which historical period is mainly associated with rapid industrialization?

A) 1865-85
B) 1865-1914
C) 1914-18
D) 1940-50
E) 1945-50

Answer 2

B
Explanation: This period of industrialization between the Civil War and the first world war coincided with rapid growth in urban and suburban areas.

Question 3

How would you describe early economic activity in the US?

A) Tightly controlled
B) Unregulated
C) High wage economy
D) Highly restricted
E) Profit driven

Answer 3

B,E
Explanation: Controls were few and wages usually very low.

Question 4

Roughly when was the notion of an 8-hour day introduced?

A) Late 1880
B) Early 1900s
C) Mid 1920s
D) Late 1930s
E) Early 1950s

Question 5

Which American president is generally considered to have been the first to intervene massively in the running of the economy?

A) Theodore Roosevelt
B) William Taft
C) Woodrow Wilson
D) Herbert Hoover
E) Franklin D. Roosevelt

Question 6

In which state was the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference held?

A) Florida
B) Texas
C) New York
D) New Hampshire
E) California

Question 7

What was this conference concerned with?

A) Job creation
B) Winding down the US war economy
C) The division of Europe after the war
D) International monetary management
E) How to re-deploy the armed forces

Question 8

What is Adam Smith most associated with?

A) Free enterprise economics
B) Nationalization
C) Regional development
D) Unemployment
E) State intervention in the economy

Question 9

How did the US government react to the institutional financial failures of 2008?

A) It nationalized the US banking system
B) It encouraged failing institutions to petition for bankruptcy
C) It sought international loans
D) It mounted a huge rescue operation
E) It closed the Stock Exchanges immediately

Question 10

What was deflation in the first quarter of 2009-2010?

A) -1.10
B) -2.10
C) -5.20
D) -0.05
E) -10.00

Question 11

What percentage of their annual income would a median income family pay in tax in the US?

A) 15
B) 20
C) 25
D) 30
E) 35

Question 12

How would you describe the US balance of trade with other countries?

A) In permanent surplus
B) Usually in surplus
C) Never in surplus
D) In deficit since 1920
E) In deficit since 1980

Question 13

Which countries joined with the United States in NAFTA?

A) China and Russia
B) Britain and Germany
C) Japan and Korea
D) Canada and Mexico
E) India and Brazil

Question 14

What was the US unemployment rate in April 2020?

A) 21 percent
B) 9.9 percent
C) 4.5 percent
D) 15 percent
E) 33.3 percent

Question 15

Comment critically on the present state of the US economy.

Question 16

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the US trade-union movement?

Question 17

The general commitment to "free enterprise" does not preclude direct US government intervention in certain sections of the economy. Describe some of the circumstances where this has occurred in the last half century.

Question 18

Outline the events which led to the 2008 financial crisis and attempt an assessment of whether recent US government initiatives have done sufficient to prevent a recurrence in the future.