Deck 8: Where Do We Go From Here

Question 1

More than one in ______ children now live in poverty.

A) Two
B) Three
C) Five
D) Ten
E) Twenty

Answer 1

C

Question 2

__________ refers to the process whereby companies relocate to third world countries.

A) capital flight
B) globalization
C) technological investment
D) communication

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Today, African-Americans who are poor are far more likely than in earlier years to live in areas where just about everyone else is poor.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The proportion of Americans living in poverty has decreased.

Question 5

Within a capitalist economic system the existence of a surplus population is inevitable.

Question 6

The best-selling book by Barbara Ehrenreich, with the appropriate title Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, reflects her experience of spending the better part of a year actually working in six different low-wage jobs trying to make ends meet during this time. What did she find was the most pressing concern of the working poor?

A) Finding affordable housing and healthcare
B) Getting suitable education for their children
C) Having to work seventy hours a week just to get by

Question 7

During the past four decades the percentage of women in the labor force has _________.

A) Remained the same
B) Doubled
C) Tripled
D) Decreased by 30%

Question 8

Today the United States could be described as a "high-wage society."

Question 9

Recent changes in the U.S. economy have caused thousands of workers to lose their jobs. Which is not one of these changes?

A) The creation of the computer chip, which has replaced many workers by computers and robots
B) The movement of capital, or "capital flight"
C) The globalization of the economy
D) The overall shift of the economy from manufacturing to information and services
E) The overall shift of the surplus population

Question 10

As of 1990, an estimated 18 percent of full-time workers were classified as living under the official __________.

A) poverty line
B) welfare minimums
C) service industry sector
D) both a and c

Question 11

The last stage of the Industrial Revolution includes ___________.

A) globalization
B) technological advancement
C) movement of capital
D) all of the above

Question 12

_________ is a process whereby companies have invested overseas, relocated plants within the United States, or engaged in mergers with other corporations.

A) Globalization
B) Free-market enterprise
C) Capital flight
D) Commodities

Question 13

Surprisingly, the likelihood of dropping out of high school is higher for students from higher-income families than for students from lower-income families.

Question 14

Feminization of poverty affects which racial class the most?

A) Whites
B) African-Americans
C) Hispanics
D) Asians
E) Native Americans

Question 15

As of early 2003, unemployment has been on the rise.

Question 16

Profits that are the result of tax loopholes, subsidies, and taxpayer assistance are known as _______.

A) economic programs
B) corporate welfare
C) world bank assistance
D) global investment strategies

Question 17

The average wage of the typical male worker has ___________ since the 1970's. This is partly the result of shift to temporary workers in the new economy.

A) increased
B) decreased
C) remained about the same
D) shifted to compensation in the form of insurance benefits

Question 18

In recent years workers are producing more for the owners than in the 1970's but earning proportionately less.

Question 19

Big business cannot exist without strong support from the government.

Question 20

One of the key concepts originally developed by Karl Marx referred to a more or less chronically unemployed or underemployed segment of the population, primarily because of mechanization which renders them "redundant" and hence "superfluous" as far as producing profits is concerned. This segment helps keep wages down and is absorbed back into the general working population when labor is scarce. What is this segment?

A) Free market capitalists
B) Commodified capitalist working class
C) Working poor
D) Surplus population/reserve army

Question 21

Nearly every criminologist agrees that the family is probably the most critical factor related to crime and delinquency.

Question 22

Discuss the basic features of capitalism and how it has largely affected African-Americans in the past fifty years.

Question 23

Discuss how recent changes in the U.S. economy have affected employment for Americans, African- Americans in particular.

Question 24

Male unemployment is the leading cause of the rise in female-headed households.

Question 25

Under American capitalism, the "free-market" is largely a myth. Short

Question 26

The author states that in today's capitalist society life itself has been "commodified." What does he mean by this?

Question 27

Define Marx's concept called the lumpenproletariat.