Fractional reserve banking
(a) destroys money.
(b) requires banks to engage in 100 percent of total banking activities.
(c) allows banks to create money while requiring them only to hold a fraction of money.
(d) all of the above.
Which of the following was the single largest component of wealth in colonial
America?
(a) Land
(b) Stocks
(c) Bonds
(d) Capital
To understand how the colonial economy developed, Hughes and Cain (2011) claim one
must understand
(a) what motivated colonists to settle in different locations.
(b) what colonists produced, how much they produced, for whom they produced and
with whom they traded.
(c) the legal system in which they operated.
(d) all of the above.
The depression of the 1930s was
(a) the first depression in the nation’s history.
(b) not the first but the most serious depression in the nation’s history.
(c) not the first depression in the nation’s history and no more serious than some of the
others.
(d) not as serious as the depressions of the 1840s and 1870s.
In Brinley Thomas’ (1954) theory of the Atlantic Economy,
(a) cotton exports to Europe drove the growth of the U.S. economy.
(b) people and capital moved to the U.S. when U.S. economic growth was strong.
(c) the peaks of the U.S. business cycle were closely aligned with that of European
peaks.
(d) all of the above are true.
Which of the following accurately describes condemnation by right of eminent domain?
(a) It involves the redistribution of property first owned by the government to private
businesses.
(b) It was never exercised for such private purposes as acquiring land for canal or
railroad construction during the antebellum period.
(c) The benefits can be diverse and the costs can be concentrated.
(d) It was never exercised by the federal government before the 1870s.
Overall, U. S. citizens and foreign-born residents embrace change that promises overall
growth. This is evidenced by which of the following?
(a) Innovation
(b) The growth of new industries and the demise of others
(c) Population migration from one part of the U.S. to another
(d) All of the above
Tax policies involving increases in taxes paid by the private sector
(a) are generally tolerated when incomes are rising faster than taxes.
(b) are always opposed by the private sector.
(c) are death to politicians concerned about re-election.
(d) are progressive when the lowest income bracket pays the highest percentage of total
income.
The Civil War was a result of
(a) the dispute over slave ownership in the South.
(b) attempts to keep slaves out of the West.
(c) attempts to protect state rights over federal control.
(d) all of the above.
For the gold standard to achieve its maximum functioning efficiency, central banks
should theoretically play the “rules of the game.” What are these rules?
(a) Central bank policy should tie the flow of their gold reserves to their current
accounts.
(b) Central banks should “lean against the wind” and follow policies that offset gold
movements.
(c) Central banks should raise interest rates as gold flows in and lower them as gold
flows out.
(d) Central banks should sell securities as gold flows in and buy them as gold flows out.
To restrict a wilderness area in the public domain to a particular group in the general
public, say the motorists or snowmobilers of today, is
(a) democratic.
(b) consistent with Thomas Jefferson’s view on federal ownership of land.
(c) undemocratic.
(d) non-discriminatory.
Between 1790 and 1860, wholesale prices charged by producers of commodities
(a) grew steadily over the period.
(b) declined steadily.
(c) exhibited wild variations but increased, on average.
(d) exhibited wild variations but declined, on average.
King James of England granted the Virginia Company all land “from sea to sea.” The
Proclamation Line of 1763 supported this grant.