The nonwhite percentage of the U.S. population rose after the Civil War.
In all areas but property, the measurable costs of the Civil War (1861″1865) were
highest in the North.
Prior to the Civil War (1861″1865) American capitalism was free from government
influence and controls. The government only served as the protector of private property
rights and the provider of national defense.
The rise of the tertiary sector is positively associated with modernization and
economic development.
Governments, not markets, have the best record of allocating investment resources into
those projects with the highest expected rate of return.
Keynes (1941) claimed that government spending during wartime could generate a
healthy increase in the demand for output, thus raising employment levels and boosting
incomes. To avoid inflation, physical rationing, monetary measures and other controls
were consequently needed.
If private investment had held up as well as consumption did, the economic contraction
from 1929 to 1933 would have been less severe than it was.
The Mokyr-DeCanio thesis states that real wages of Northern workers lagged behind
price increases during the Civil War (1861″1865), thus shifting to the workers
themselves a major part of the war’s cost.
Between 1821 and 1930, the U.S. gained a comparative advantage in the production of
agricultural goods.
The equal wealth and income distribution in the U.S. during its antebellum period can
be clearly linked to its system of private property rights over land and minerals.
In 1945″52, the records show that falling price levels stimulated increases in real Gross
National Product (GNP).
All national banks were required to join the Federal Reserve Bank of their region;
however, state banks could do so on a voluntary basis.
The panic of 1893 was caused by the Sherman Silver Act of 1890, which doubled the
Treasury’s monthly purchase rates to 4.5 million ounces of silver at current market
prices and was eased when President Cleveland called for the Act’s repeal on June 30,
1893.
The U.S. and other industrializing nations depended heavily on international trade.
The majority of blacks were shipped from West Africa, but some also came from
Madagascar and Zanzibar.
Goldin (2001) gives the U.S. investment in public education credit for boosting the U.S.
labor force participation rates and helping the U.S. economy develop.
The benefits of urbanization include: crime, pollution, increased taxation and
congestion.
Productivity, or output per labor hour, rises as transportation costs fall.
Unlike business, government can coerce individuals to paying higher prices through
taxes.
Net migration can help fuel population growth which, in turn, provides a positive
incentive for businesses to expand production and employment.
Children can be viewed as retirement insurance and thus provide individuals with
incentive to create large families.
In the pivotal Supreme Court decision Munn v Illinois (1877), the court held that only
natural monopolies were subject to federal government regulation.
Even though the number of workers in manufacturing has increased in the post-war
world (since 1947), the proportion of manufacturing workers in the total labor force has
declined.
Adam Smith (1776) claimed that less governmental regulation, not more, would
provide incentives for individuals to allocate resources efficiently, specialize and trade.
Specialization and trade would generate wealth and result in economic growth and
development.
The two main sources of U.S. population increase between Independence and the Civil
War were natural increases in population and immigration.
The Civil War’s (1861″1865) impact on the growth and development of the U.S.
economy was negative.
The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 separated commercial banks from most of their
securities business.
Roads during the 1800s proved to be a preferred transportation alternative to railroads
and thus competed successfully for profits.
Both Horwitz (1973) and Scheiber (1975) emphasize the restraining effects of judicial
formalism on U.S. economic growth in the antebellum period.
The U.S. has a system of private property rights that encourages productive uses of its
resources even in the presence of some government influence.
The sale of western lands failed in its purpose because of corruption.
Forcing businesses to divert profits to improve job conditions, increase wages and
salaries and broaden benefits fuels animosity toward labor unions.
Young male adults provided the single largest group of migrants. This helped increase
human capital in the U.S.
The demand for slaves was increasing more rapidly in cities than on plantations.
The legal transfer of chattels supports economic growth.
Unlike previous and future wars, the United States’ federal government did not need to
impose an income tax to finance the Civil War (1861″1865).
The United States gained significant strength globally in manufacturing production
during the Civil War (1861″1865).
Capitalists like Henry Ford welcomed the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. It relieved
them of the responsibilities associated with contracting wages, hours and working
conditions.
If the increase in government expenditures of World War II (1941″45) is matched
against the decrease in private investment and consumption during the same period, it
was the end of World War II that officially concluded the depression era, not the start of
World War II, according to
Robert Higgs (2007).
Regarding business conditions during the 1930s, which of the following events did not
occur?
(a) The number of patents applied for declined.
(b) The number of mergers between companies increased in an attempt to increase their
consolidated strength.
(c) Some interest rates, such as the prime rate, fell to less than 1%.
(d) In the early years of the Depression, business investment spending on plants
and equipment was not enough to increase or maintain the country’s capital stock.
Inflation results
(a) when the price of one good or service increases.
(b) when too much money is chasing too few goods.
(c) when prices, on average, decrease across the economy.
(d) when banks decrease lending.
The Navigation Acts (1651 and later amendments)
(a) defined the British Empire within Europe and restricted shipping and trade between
it and the external world.
(b) had a major purpose of enlarging and protecting the King of England’s income
derived from trade through shipping and trade.
(c) advanced free trade across the British Empire.
(d) held true for all of the above.
As the U.S. economy expanded and entered the 20th century, its federal government’s
need for renewable revenue sources grew. Expenditures significantly increased for all of
the following reasons except
(a) Military
(b) Expanding regulatory agencies
(c) Public works, education and sanitation
(d) Foreign interventionism
According to the research of economic historians, Southern farms
(a) realized the gains from regional specialization in the production of cotton, tobacco,
sugar and rice.
(b) used the gang system to increase the production of slaves.
(c) were far larger, on average, than farms in the North.
(d) were all of the above.
How do banks and financial intermediation support economic growth and
development?
(a) By helping businesses secure the funds needed for capital accumulation and
technology advancements
(b) By assisting customers in buying durable and nondurable goods and services
(c) By financing government expenditures when tax revenue falls below planned
spending
(d) By granting loans to foreign-born individuals to invest in countries outside of the
U.S.
Which of the following is blamed for the lack of increased business investment
spending on new factories and machinery during the 1930s?
(a) The new presence of government’s large-scale economic activity caused business to
lose some of its former confidence.
(b) The general outlook stressed caution.
(c) A much lower rate of population growth and family creation depressed the housing
market.
(d) All of the above.
What was/were the most enduring legacy/legacies of the 1960s according to Hughes
and Cain (2011)?
(a) Medicare and the War on Poverty
(b) The violent antiwar movement
(c) The environmental, consumer and women’s movements
(d) The black power movement
Compared to the natives of Northern America, ownership of private property rights was
(a) more common to the Europeans than it was to the natives
(b) more common to the Indians than to the Europeans.
(c) the same.
(d) of no value to either group.
Which view of the causes of the Great Depression emphasizes factors largely external
to the domestic economy, particularly the Gold Standard?
(a) The Monetarists’
(b) The Keynesians’
(c) The Austrians’
(d) The International View
Who does not want a tariff?
(a) Consumers of imported goods
(b) Domestic businesses producing goods that compete with the imported goods
(c) Politicians trying to garner domestic support from the import-competing domestic
industries
(d) The federal government
The “middle-class” ideal that developed in the early 19th century included which of the
following elements?
(a) Women were socially and legally equal to men and were encouraged to choose
between working and staying in the home (avoiding wage-labor in the factories).
(b) Men were to be the income earners providing for the family’s material needs while
women were to play a greater role regarding the family’s spiritual needs.
(c) Apprenticeships, rather than public schools, would better serve the need of preparing
children for middle-class careers.
(d) Poverty among the lower classes was due not to their moral failure but rather low
wages, uncertain employment, and lack of economic opportunity.
An economic rent is created when
(a) organized labor pushes its members’ wages above those of unorganized labor.
(b) market forces determine prices and output.
(c) businesses take market prices as given.
(d) laborers accept competitive wages.
If children can be considered durable goods, then this would help explain
(a) high birth rates among farm families.
(b) small family size among farm families.
(c) lower birth rates in towns than in the countryside.
(d) lower birth rates in the countryside than in towns.
The nature of employer liability changed in the 19th century through judicial
instrumentalism and had what effect?
(a) Reducing the risks and the costs of business, making business enterprise more
daring and profitable than it would have been otherwise.
(b) Increasing the risks and the costs of business, making business enterprise more
daring and profitable than it would otherwise have been.
(c) Continuing the older doctrine that employers could be found guilty of contributory
negligence, thus increasing the employer’s liability for worker injury.
(d) None of the above were effects of the changes to the nature of employer liability.
When the English pound appreciated against a colonial currency, this signaled
(a) that colonists needed more colonial currency to buy an English pound.
(b) that colonists needed less colonial currency to buy an English pound.
(c) that colonists needed more colonial and Spanish currency to buy an English pound.
(d) nothing of economic importance.
Government regulation in the form of subsidies, tariffs, licensing, and inspections does
which of the following?
(a) Creates rents for businesses
(b) Offers profits to some businesses at the expense of others
(c) Encourages the inefficient use of productive resources
(d) All of the above
What characterized the 1950″1962 economy (from the Korean War to the last year of
John F. Kennedy’s presidency)?
(a) Significant inflation
(b) Deflation
(c) High unemployment
(d) Falling prices and wages
The government played a central role in directing the post-World War II economy,
causing all of the following to occur except
(a) The reduction of entitlements, such as Social Security and unemployment benefits.
(b) Massive spending by the federal government, justified by the Cold War.
(c) Enormously expanded government infrastructure spending on things like highways,
airports, education and research and development.
(d) There is no “except”; all of the above occurred.
Between 1967 and 1999, the industrial structure of the U.S. experienced which of the
following changes?
(a) The industries experiencing slow or negative growthprimary metals, transportation,
mining and steelsought protection from competition from the federal government.
(b) All major nondurable sectors experienced growth.
(c) Machinery and electronics experienced rapid growth.
(d) All of the above.
The future of any region dependent on export industrial growth is influenced by:
(a) the region’s natural endowment at given technology levels.
(b) the character of the export industry.
(c) subsequent changes in technology and transport costs.
(d) all of the above.
Low-wage manufacturing industries exhibit which of the following?
(a) Low output per worker
(b) Added value that rises above labor’s share of total employment
(c) Highly educated and skilled workers
(d) All of the above
The growth of cities and population usually accompanies growth in commercial activity
and vice versa.
From the end of the Civil War to the start of World War I, the direction of U.S. trade
(a) stayed the same.
(b) was dominated by trade with Europe.
(c) grew and broadened to include other countries in Asia and the Americas.
(d) dwindled.
Population grew prodigiously during the colonial period. What was/were the most
important factor(s) fueling this increase?
(a) Immigration
(b) Relatively low mortality and high birth rates
(c) Relatively high mortality combined with high birth rates
(d) Immigration and high birth rates
Throughout U.S. history, entrepreneurial activity would occur when
(a) centralized economic planning was involved
(b) distributed rights to profits were clear and protected
(c) government intervention was pervasive
(d) all of the above
Pegging the bond market in 1942″45 meant that World War II (1941″45)
(a) would be financed by free-market interest-rate determination.
(b) fixed high interest rates.
(c) fixed low interest rates.
(d) sent high interest rates floating above the peg.
Why did high fertility of the early population occur, according to Hughes and Cain
(2011)?
(a) More than half of the population were at ages where fertility is highin 1820, for
example, the median American was less than 17 years old.
(b) A nation composed mainly of farmers and people planning to farm had every reason
to create large families.
(c) Children can be considered investment goods and the rate of return on a child born
to a farm family was relatively high.
(d) High fertility occurred due to all of the above reasons.
During the antebellum period, the South exported more to England than it imported.
This Southern trade surplus with England benefited whom?
(a) The South
(b) The North
(c) England
(d) All of the above
Consistent with the mercantilist theory, the colonies had
(a) a trade deficit with England.
(b) a trade surplus with England.
(c) a balance of trade with England.
(d) about an equal number of annual trade deficits and surpluses over the years.
The Gallatin Plan (1808) to provide internal land and water transport in the eastern part
of the country was a plan that
(a) called for the federal government to finance and build the transport system.
(b) called for the eastern states to join together to finance and build the system.
(c) called for private financing and building with some federal government assistance in
coordinating and planning the transport system.
(d) relied primarily on city and county governments to provide the bulk of the financing
and building of the transport system.
The economy of the northern colonies, in particular New England, was largely based on
(a) small-scale farming.
(b) slave trade.
(c) cotton production.
(d) all of the above.
Profit-maximizing industrialists are concerned with both revenues and costs.
Transportation and production costs are an important part of total costs. Both are
impacted by
(a) location and power sources.
(b) the cost of managing large quantities of productive resources found anywhere along
the production chain.
(c) the ability to concentrate or group resources in the same place.
(d) all of the above.
Which/who of the following was NOT an opponent to rechartering either the First or
the Second Banks of the United States?
(a) Andrew Jackson
(b) Private banks
(c) Nicholas Biddle
(d) Rural interests
After the American Revolution concluded, what did the English do?
(a) They withdrew all investments in colonial America.
(b) They continued investing in colonial America.
(c) They discouraged individuals in other countries from investing in colonial America.
(d) They did none of the above.