The American colonies’ estimated cost of membership in the British Empire was,
according to most economic historians, fairly large.
As an economy grows and develops, the police powers of the government with respect
to controlling, regulating and inspecting businesses and their output become
increasingly more costly to uphold and protect.
All railroads were private enterprises with no government influence.
The absence of the Southern economy’s ability to earn foreign exchange and its markets
severely impacted all non-local trade in the U.S. after the Civil War.
The Economic Act of 1946 allowed the federal government to use discretionary fiscal
policy to pursue economic prosperity.
As the transportation system developed in the U.S., urbanization occurred.
The rules of strict constitutionality apply even during times of war in the U.S.
Prices rose strongly during the Vietnam War (1964″1974), and only the adroit monetary
and fiscal policy management of the Carter administration (1976″1980) managed to get
inflation under control.
North (1974) finds evidence to suggest that the iron industry was equally dependent on
the railroad and iron stove industries for sales revenue at one point in time.
People have incentive to efficiently and effectively use land in the public domain or
held by a communal group.
Over time, population growth in the different regions of colonial America was
consistent and even.
As a result of the case of Dartmouth College v Woodward (1819), the Federal Trade
Commission was formed years later in 1914.
When transportation costs fall, consumer prices have a tendency to rise.
The American Revolution was waged against the colonial governments that had
emerged and had been supported by the English.
On the eve of the American Revolution, most colonials produced agricultural goods.
The war boosted profits for many farmers.
The “Crime of “73” did not stop the Federal Treasury from buying massive amounts of
silver at above-market prices before 1900.
Until 1863, National Banking was a mix of licensing by state charters, banking done by
nonchartered private bankers, and free banking.
Slaves were only used in Southern agriculture.
Davis and Huttenback (1982) find evidence to support the claim that the colonists were
overtaxed by England.
The percentage of foreign-born people living in the U.S. continued to rise after the Civil
War.
Many colonists believed that export surpluses with England positively impacted
colonial businesses through increased prices and profits.
The steel industry successfully lobbied for protection from foreign competition.
Consequently, the steel-producing industries and those industries using steel benefited.
Net worth and assets are the same.
Even today, individuals distrust the outcome of free markets, as is evidenced by the
protests against the construction of Walmarts across the nation.
Although most slaves came to the colonies before 1776, the majority of other types of
labor came to North America voluntarily.
Stagflation at the end of the 1970s was marked by increasing inflation and
unemployment.
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s nationwide “Bank Holiday” in March 1933 merely finished the
job started by the governors of the states, who were already closing down the banking
systems.
According to Douglass North (1981, 1993), to knowledgeably understand our present
economy or to strategically speculate about its future, it is important to “explain the
structure and performance of economies through time.”
The American Revolution changed the basic structure of private property rights
inherited during the colonial period.
European agricultural practices perfectly served the colonists farming in the New
World.
Social Security, like other governmental programs, alters individuals’ decisions to save,
consumeand invest privately for the present as well as the future.
The New Deal allowed the federal government to reorganize and pursue economic
planning.
Residential construction did not return to its 1926 high levels until 1949.
Research in history and economic history shows that before 1880, significant federal
participation in the markets of the American economy occurred.
The New Deal in U.S. history is that period during the Great Depression in which
American “capitalism” is redefined and the role of the federal government in the
economy fundamentally changes forever.
Employment in manufacturing fell by almost twenty percent between 1980 and 1999.
In order to explain the relative sizes of families in urban versus rural environments,
some economists viewed children as investment or durable consumptions goods,
respectively.
Before the Civil War (1861″1865), the U.S. credit system made capital investments
possible and fueled overall economic growth and development across many sectors.
This system was supported heavily by whom?
(a) The British
(b) The North
(c) The South
(d) None of the above
The American Revolution, the Civil War (1861″65) and World War I (1914″18)
(a) diverted U.S. resources from peace-time, private uses and toward war-related uses.
(b) encouraged the efficient allocation of resources.
(c) increased long-term investment opportunities.
(d) resulted in the excessive contraction of money to finance war efforts.
According to Hughes and Cain (2011), what did the Populists want?
(a) To use the federal government to redistribute income and wealth
(b) A more direct democracy that limited the powers of state legislatures
(c) A secret voting ballot and public education
(d) All of the above
Which of the following did NOT contribute to “internal economies” in the
industrialization process?
(a) Diminishing returns to scale
(b) Central power sources
(c) Managerial improvements
(d) Transportation networks
During World War II (1941″45), Golden (1990) argues, the opportunity cost of women
staying at home
(a) decreased.
(b) stayed the same.
(c) increased.
(d) cannot be measured.
The British Crown was the only political, social, cultural and economic influence on the
colonization of North America.
What do taxes do?
(a) Impact the incentive to use resources efficiently
(b) Transfer income from the person or entity paying taxes to other individuals or
entities
(c) Affect the relative prices of goods, services and resources
(d) All of the above
Before 1815, Hughes and Cain (2011) claim, westward movement was blocked by
(a) disputed claims to western lands.
(b) lack of government land sale surveys and offices.
(c) hostile Indian tribes.
(d) all of the above.
The years after 1960 witnessed some social and economic changes of extraordinary
magnitude, including all of the following except
(a) The core of U.S. growth shifted away from its historic base in heavy industry.
(b) A huge influx of women into the labor force occurred.
(c) Legislation provided for greater safety on the job and cleaner air and water.
(d) The Cold War ended in the early 1970s, following the end of the Vietnam War, and
defense spending declined significantly from the Cold War years of the 1950s.
In the struggle to control the power of big business which emerged between the Civil
War and World War I, the nation
(a) relied heavily on the principles of government expounded by the Founding Fathers
such as Thomas Jefferson.
(b) slowly changed into the modern regulated economy.
(c) decided ultimately that big business was here to stay and should be allowed to
operate without government interference.
(d) began a policy of government ownership of business in important sectors of the
economy.
By the 1840s,
(a) labor had achieved political power in the franchise, i.e., the right to vote.
(b) unions per se were not considered by law to be conspiracies and therefore illegal.
(c) peaceful picketing of businesses during strikes was considered to be legal.
(d) all of the above were true.
Which of the following are expected consequences of common ownership of property
and resources?
(a) The threat of corrupt use
(b) The danger of over use
(c) Free riding
(d) All of the above
Business cycles are best categorized as
(a) fluctuations in the production and employment levels in the business sector of the
economy.
(b) major upswings and downturns in most sectors of the economy.
(c) variations in international trade.
(d) all of the above.
There is statistical evidence to suggest that under English rule, colonists experienced
(a) financial chaos.
(b) economic harm in terms of commerce, trade and investment.
(c) growth and prosperity.
(d) all of the above.
The efficiency of steamboats was commonly measured by
(a) the carrying capacity of the steamboat fleet in terms of tonnage.
(b) per unit labor costs per vessel.
(c) the tonnage per vessel transported upstream.
(d) the actual tonnage transported up and downstream each day.
During World War II, the distribution of income shifted. Who did this shift favor?
(a) Labor
(b) The idle and wealthy class
(c) The government
(d) Foreign-born individuals
Unlike the revolutionary colonials, England had
(a) an organized army and navy.
(b) an abundance of resources.
(c) the means to finance the war.
(d) all of the above.
Prior to the 1880s, federal government control over the daily operations of private
economic activity
(a) was important but not as important as during the 1880s and following decades.
(b) was virtually nonexistent; state and local governments handled any regulation or
business management.
(c) was important, but in the 1880s and following decades, it became less important as
it was realized that regulation was basically inconsistent with the efficient operation of
free markets.
(d) was virtually nonexistent and did not become important until the Great Depression
and New Deal programs of the 1930s.
With regard to the cost of the Civil War (1861″1865), Hughes and Cain (2011) argue all
of the following except
(a) It mobilized idle men and other resources on a vast scale.
(b) The cost of the lives lost can be measured using the concept of “human capital.”
(c) The war’s cost could have purchased all the slaves from their owners at 1860 prices,
given each slave family 40 acres and a mule, and still had $3.5 billion left over for
“reparations”back wages to the freed slaves.
(d) The real burden was widely felt by those individuals who owned Confederate
financial assets, those whose crops and farm animals were sequestered, those whose
homes and farm buildings were destroyed, and the dead.
World War II (1941″45) bond sales
(a) were successful and purchased primarily by banks, not private individuals.
(b) were successful and purchased primarily by private individuals, not banks.
(c) were successful but eventually led to inflation when bondholders decided to cash
them in or sell them to the Fed.
(d) were not successful.
Which view of the causes of the Great Depression emphasizes that there is little
evidence that the economy was suffering from any real shortage of money; the
problems, instead, stemmed from a fall of private consumption and investment
spending?
(a) The Monetarists’
(b) The Keynesians’
(c) The Austrians’
(d) The International View
Shortly after World War II (1941″45) and the price controls ended,
(a) unemployment levels returned to those levels experienced during the Great
Depression.
(b) unemployment levels returned to their full employment levels.
(c) unemployment dipped sharply and inflation surged.
(d) unemployment rates increased and deflation emerged.
When all else is held constant, during recessions government
(a) revenues and expenditures increase.
(b) revenues increase and expenditures decrease.
(c) revenues decrease and expenditures rise.
(d) revenues and expenditures decrease.
Since colonial times, the U.S. government controlled businesses at some level by:
(a) letting market actions and interactions between private consumers and producers
drive decisions
(b) regulating, licensing and closing them.
(c) protecting private property rights.
(d) providing national defense.
If the Habakkuk thesis had been correctunamended by Rosenberg, David and othersa
long-run decline in the supply of agricultural productivity west of the Appalachians
would be matched by a proportional
(a) decline in the productivity growth in eastern manufacturing.
(b) increase in productivity in eastern manufacturing.
(c) rise in American food imports.
(d) rise in American exports of manufacturing.
In the industrial period of U.S. history, the manufacturing goods consumed by U.S.
households were subject to
(a) high taxes.
(b) Engel’s Law.
(c) income effects.
(d) none of the above.
Subsidies for silver, the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, and the Silver Purchase Acts of
1890 and 1933 all provide examples of government programs
(a) based on careful analysis of benefits relative to costs.
(b) designed to redistribute income from the rich to the poor.
(c) that reflect the political attractiveness of special-interest issues.
(d) that promote the general welfare.
American economic history is important because it will help you understand
(a) how to change strategically the course of the future since it was shaped by the past.
(b) why some armies failed and others succeeded.
(c) how to change the past.
(d) how to produce the exact same type of successful growth and development in other
countries.
The system of sharecropping that emerged after the Civil War (1861″1865)
(a) gave neither the owners of land nor the sharecroppers strong incentives to make
improvements in agricultural production.
(b) gave both the owners of land and the sharecroppers strong incentives to make
improvements in agricultural production.
(c) gave the owners of land but not the sharecroppers strong incentives to make
improvements in agricultural production.
(d) gave the sharecroppers but not the owners of land strong incentives to make
improvements in agricultural production.
During World War I (1914″18), the government supported the cause of labor when it
(a) reduced the work day to eight hours in all government jobs.
(b) reduced the work day to eight hours in all private sector jobs.
(c) enforced the eight-hour work day in all government jobs.
(d) enforced the eight-hour work day in all private jobs.