Chapter Eleven: The Economy
When researchers from the UC–Berkeley’s Human Rights Center and a Washington D.C.-based group stated that
“New federal laws have been passed to combat these crimes … but much more needs to be done, especially at the
local level,” they were talking about launching a broad-based campaign against modern-day
a. racism.
b. slavery.
c. union busting.
d. feudalism.
Learning Objective: LO 11.2: Describe how the characteristics of work in the United States can be a source of social problems.
Topic/Concept: The Problems of Work in the United States
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
TB_Q11.2.31
Historically, _____ have been extremely important in changing the relationship between management and
workers. By joining together, workers were able to challenge owners to increase wages, add benefits, provide
worker security, and promote safety in the workplace.
a. hierarchies
b. employees
c. labor unions
d. professional organizations
Learning Objective: LO 11.2: Describe how the characteristics of work in the United States can be a source of social problems.
Topic/Concept: The Problems of Work in the United States
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q11.2.32
Research in 2009 showed that union members are 59% more likely to have _____ than their nonunion
counterparts.
a. job sharing opportunities
b. stock options
c. unemployment insurance
d. employer-provided health insurance
Learning Objective: LO 11.2: Describe how the characteristics of work in the United States can be a source of social problems.
Topic/Concept: The Problems of Work in the United States
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q11.2.33
In Conflict and Order, 14th edition
In 2013, more than 30,000 charges of _____ discrimination were filed with the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission.
a. racial
b. reverse
c. sex
d. age
Learning Objective: LO 11.2: Describe how the characteristics of work in the United States can be a source of social problems.
Topic/Concept: The Problems of Work in the United States
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q11.2.34
On August 26, 2014 (Women’s Equality Day), the Teamsters Local 237 union in New York City won a historic
gender-equity settlement for thousands of female _____, who earned about $7,000 less per year than their male
counterparts.
a. construction workers
b. school safety agents
c. skilled factory workers
d. truck drivers
Learning Objective: LO 11.2: Describe how the characteristics of work in the United States can be a source of social problems.
Topic/Concept: The Problems of Work in the United States
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q11.3.35
Prior to the economic crisis of 2007 to 2009, the economy was already shifting away from manufacturing to services
and information/knowledge. Tens of millions of mostly _____ jobs were lost permanently.
a. white-collar
b. women’s
c. unionized
d. small business
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q11.3.36
Chapter Eleven: The Economy
Even before the economic crisis of 2007 to 2009, employees in the United States were working about _____ more
hours per year than their European counterparts.
a. 70
b. 249
c. 350
d. 1,970
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q11.3.37
In 2005, about 20% of home loans were _____, meaning they were loans sold to low-income people who had
little chance of paying their mortgages, often under predatory terms that were especially unfavorable to the
unsuspecting borrowers.
a. subprime
b. triple-A rated
c. fixed-rate
d. refinanced
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q11.3.38
According to United for a Fair Economy, _____ lost between $163 billion and $278 billion from subprime loans
taken out between 1999 and 2007.
a. Native Americans and poor Whites
b. African Americans and Latinos
c. Asian Americans and middle-class Blacks
d. Hispanics and Asian Americans recent immigrants
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q11.3.39
In Conflict and Order, 14th edition
What forces combined in 2007 to bring about the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the
1930s?
a. Hurricane Katrina and the resulting bailout to homeowners
b. Bipartisan support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
c. Predatory mortgage lending and irresponsible dealing on Wall Street
d. The election of the nation’s first Black president and a Republican legislature
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q11.3.40
The effects of the burst housing bubble fell disproportionately on minorities. By 2009 some 1.5 million homes,
owned mostly by _____, were lost through subprime foreclosures.
a. all minorities combined
b. Asian Americans
c. Latinos
d. African Americans
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q11.3.41
In addition to homeowners, _____ suffered during the housing bubble collapse and many faced eviction from
their dwellings.
a. renters
b. small businesses
c. big banks
d. nursing home residents
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q11.3.42
According to research by Marquardt and Shinkle, stock market value declined by $7.3 _____ in 2008 alone.
a. thousand
b. million
c. billion
d. trillion
Chapter Eleven: The Economy
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q11.3.43
In 2008 alone, individuals who had contributed to 401(k) retirement savings accounts for 20 years or more lost an
average of _____ of value.
a. 5%
b. 10%
c. 20%
d. 25%
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q11.3.44
A major source of bankruptcy for people in the United States is the inability to pay for _____, especially for
people who lose this benefit because they lost their jobs.
a. their children’s college tuition
b. catastrophic health care needs
c. vacations and luxury items
d. the high interest on credit card bills
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q11.3.45
By early 2009, around 16.5 million children received _____, up 6.5% from the previous year.
a. free school lunches
b. college scholarships
c. art and music education
d. health care
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q11.3.46
In Conflict and Order, 14th edition
Around 40% of the homeless population were families, typically
a. single fathers with children.
b. single mothers with children.
c. married couples with teenage children.
d. single or married women responsible for aging parents.
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q11.3.47
The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless found that in 2008, 22% of families seeking emergency shelter were
a. choosing to walk out on their underwater mortgages.
b. seeking shelter after a natural disaster.
c. homeless for the first time.
d. chronically homeless.
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
TB_Q11.3.48
Although the Great Recession technically ended in 2010, there are long-term consequences still being felt; for
instance, governments at the local, state, and federal level
a. received large influxes of money by charging penalties to banks that had engaged in predatory lending
practices.
b. spent large amounts of tax money on services for the newly homeless.
c. lost significant tax revenues, causing them to impose punitively high taxes.
d. lost significant tax revenues, causing them to face serious budget shortfalls.
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q11.3.49
Which of the following is NOT one of the challenges faced by today’s recent college graduates?
a. Higher salaries
b. Higher unemployment rate
c. Greater student loan debt
d. Lower salaries
Chapter Eleven: The Economy
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q11.3.50
Despite signs of economic recovery, the legacy of the Great Recession is _____ the U.S. economic system and
the government’s ability to address the economic difficulties faced by American families.
a. increased trust in
b. diminished trust in
c. increased dependence on
d. diminished dependence on
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Essay Questions
TB_Q11.1.51
Discuss whether totalitarian governments that call themselves socialist fail to meet the socialist standard.
Feedback:True socialism must be democratic; that is, representatives of a socialist state must be answerable and responsive
to the wishes of the public they serve. Totalitarian nations that claim to be socialist violate this fundamental
aspect of socialism. The key to differentiating between authentic and false socialism is to determine who is
making the decisions and whose interests are being served.The politico economic systems of the former Soviet
Union, the People’s Republic of China, or Cuba are socialist in some respects: material benefits are more evenly
distributed than those in the United States. But their economies and governments are controlled by a single
political party in an inflexible and authoritarian manner. Although these countries claim to have democratic
elections, in fact, the citizens have no electoral choice. The people are denied civil liberties and freedoms that
should be the hallmark of a socialist society. In a pure socialist society, democratic relations must operate
throughout the social structure.
Source ID: 3.0.1
Learning Objective: LO 11.1: Understand how the U.S. economy compares to pure capitalism and pure socialism.
Topic/Concept: The Corporation-Dominated U.S. Economy
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q11.1.52
Discuss Karl Marx’s prediction that capitalism carries the seeds of its own destruction. What are the five ways in
which Marx said this would happen?
In Conflict and Order, 14th edition
Learning Objective: LO 11.1: Understand how the U.S. economy compares to pure capitalism and pure socialism.
Topic/Concept: The Corporation-Dominated U.S. Economy
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q11.2.53
Discuss how unemployment figures relate to true levels of unemployment in the United States. What are the
consequences of using this method?
Feedback:The Bureau of Labor Statistics supplies the official unemployment statistics. The official government data on
unemployment hide the actual amount by undercounting the unemployed in two ways: (1) People not actively seeking
work (discouraged workers) are not counted. The Bureau’s rationale is that the function of the statistic is to chart
fluctuations in the active labor force, not to provide a complete portrait of the jobless. But undercounting joblessness
diminishes the perceived severity of unemployment and, therefore, reduces the zeal to do anything about the problem.
(2) People who work at part-time jobs are counted as fully employed. If the discouraged workers were counted as
unemployed, along with those who work part-time but want to work full-time, then the rate would be much higher
than the official rate.
Source ID: 3.0.3
Learning Objective: LO 11.2: Describe how the characteristics of work in the United States can be a source of social problems.
Topic/Concept: The Problems of Work in the United States
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q11.2.54
Discuss the ways in which employers control workers.
Learning Objective: LO 11.2: Describe how the characteristics of work in the United States can be a source of social problems.
Topic/Concept: The Problems of Work in the United States
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q11.3.55
How did the burst of the housing bubble affect people who did not own their homes (renters)?
Learning Objective: LO 11.3: Understand the factors that led to the Great Recession of 2007–2010.
Chapter Eleven: The Economy
Topic/Concept: Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Recession
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It