The International Monetary Fund, one of the Bretton Woods Institutions,
(a) was meant to provide short-term credit.
(b) was meant to provide long-term credit.
(c) was meant to provide both short- and long-term credit.
(d) was not meant to provide credit.
The perfectly discriminating monopolist will produce the
(a) quantity at which average cost exceeds marginal revenue.
(b) quantity at which marginal cost equals average cost.
(c) quantity at which marginal revenue equals marginal cost.
(d) quantity and price which is not necessarily profit-maximizing but in the best interest
of society at large, even if it means loss.
The evidence indicates that during the 1770s, the American colonists were
(a) among the most heavily taxed people in the European world.
(b) among the most lightly taxed people in the European world.
(c) taxed at a rate that was similar to other people in the European world.
(d) taxed at rates that can”t be compared to other rates due to lack of data.
Today’s corporate structures have very little in common with the joint-stock companies
of colonial America.
Important steps in the growth of the wage-labor system ofthe North in the early 19th
century include which of the following?
(a) The advancement of many of the old skilled crafts and apprenticeship systems by
the factory system
(b) The fall in the demand for unskilled labor created by transportation improvements
(c) The complication of work tasks in the factory, which allowed the use of women and
child labor
(d) Large-scale migration to the U.S. of relatively unskilled workers who sought jobs in
the cities and factories
According to Alfred Chandler (1977), big business could be justified, at least in part, by
(a) a rapid rate of innovation among big firms.
(b) periodic recessions in which alert big businessmen buy out bankrupt firms and
expand operations.
(c) a relatively low rate of bankruptcies among big firms.
(d) its ability to take advantage of scale economiesbig business could best take
advantage of technology and economies resulting from large-scale production
processes.
International trade in the U.S. during the antebellum period
(a) benefited the Northern economy more than the Southern economy.
(b) benefited England significantly more than the U.S.
(c) played an important part in the growth and expansion of the Southern economy.
(d) occurred as described in all of the above.
Trade with the United States during the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century
benefited those individuals living in less developed countries by
(a) Boosting their incomes.
(b) Restricting markets.
(c) Exploiting their resources.
(d) Increasing pollution and crime.
Conrad and Meyer (1958) counter Fogel and Engerman’s (1974) claim that slave
breeding was a myth by arguing that any profit-maximizing slave owner would consider
slave breeding as long as:
(a) The expected rate of return from slave sales fell below the costs of rearing the slave
to the age of sale.
(b) Slavery was an irrational institution.
(c) The expected rate of return from slave sales exceeded the costs of rearing the slave
to the age of sale.
(d) Slavery was an immoral institution.
U.S. demand for tertiary labor increases when
(a) the wage rate rises.
(b) urbanization proceeds.
(c) demand for goods and services decreases.
(d) price of output declines.
Operation on the basis of comparative advantages implies which of the following?
(a) Countries allocate their resources across all sectors regardless of opportunity costs.
(b) Countries will specialize even if they can produce everything.
(c) Countries not efficient in any production should not trade.
(d) none of the above.
In the 1800s, early agricultural activity in the U.S. used the technology of the time
which was based on
(a) handwork and animal power.
(b) waterpower and the steam engine.
(c) the internal combustion engine and electric motor.
(d) large-scale enterprises using water driven machinery.
In the 20th century, tertiary employment accounted for roughly
(a) fifty percent of the total job increases.
(b) ninety percent of the total job increases.
(c) thirty percent of the total job increases.
(d) seventy percent of the total job increases.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century,
(a) many people returned to living in the Northeast and Midwest.
(b) the majority of U.S. citizens lived in rural areas.
(c) the majority of people resided in the South and West.
(d) all of the above
Under the list policies of England, primary production was encouraged while
production in manufacturing was discouraged in colonial America.
The American Revolution and Constitution represented the transition to “modern
liberalism,” or
(a) a strong emphasis on the role of government in providing for the welfare of the
people and the regulation of business activities.
(b) an emphasis on free enterprise and competitive individualism and a limited role for
government.
(c) an emphasis on public virtue and commitment to the welfare of the community or
nation as a whole, and a de-emphasis on self-interest and profit-seeking behavior.
(d) an emphasis on laissez-faire and the absence of government laws.
What produced the European Payments Union?
(a) The Schumann Plan
(b) The Monet Plan
(c) The Spaak Plan
(d) The Marshall Plan
Easterlin (1968, 1987) argues that as the relative price of children rises,
(a) the average household demands fewer of them.
(b) society, at large, demands fewer of them.
(c) society, at large, demands more of them.
(d) nothing happens since the demand for children is not influenced by price.
Which statement best describes the railroad?
(a) It is a good example of “technology transfer” (from England to the U.S.)the first
operating railroad was in England.
(b) It is an American home productthe first operating railroad was in the U.S.
(c) It was invented in England but first put into operation in the U.S.
(d) It was invented in the U.S. but first put into operation in England.
Some researchers argue that the overall standard of living increased during the 1920s.
In general, holding constant all other factors that might impact it, economists are careful
about connecting an increase in the standard of living to
(a) increases in the amount of labor used in production processes.
(b) new inventions being made in research laboratories.
(c) increases in the output of goods and services per worker.
(d) the discovery of new sources of gold and silver.
Two court cases that applied to the regulation of business were Munn v Illinois (1877)
and Nebbia v New York (1934). Regarding these two cases, which of the following is
true?
(a) The former case, in effect, gave the federal government more comprehensive
powers to regulate business than the latter case.
(b) The latter case gave the federal government more comprehensive powers to
regulate business.
(c) Both cases were equally important in giving the federal government powers
to regulate business.
(d) Neither case was very important with regard to federal regulation of business but
set a precedent for later, more important court cases.
Factors of production include
(a) a person’s physical work or labor, which can be used to provide agricultural,
maritime or manufacturing services.
(b) capital, such as a piece of farm equipment, a building or an industrial machine,
which can be used to produce a final good or service.
(c) land, minerals and other natural resources, which are extracted to manufacture
capital or used
to produce food and surplus crops for trade.
(d) all of the above.
The American Revolution resulted in
(a) a loss of British military assistance, governmental expertise, judicial assistance and
public funding for wars.
(b) greatly expanded rights for wage workers and indentured servants.
(c) significant change with respect to market behaviors, ownership of property and
individual freedom.
(d) a dramatic change in laws and the ownership of property.
Increased specialization in the computer industry is evidenced by
(a) the types of government policies implemented to aid the computer industry.
(b) the growth of the software industry.
(c) the growth of the manufacturing industry.
(d) the growth of agriculture.
What did automobiles and government subsidized highways increase the net benefits
of?
(a) Investing privately in highway development
(b) Rapid expansion of new cities and towns and revitalization in old cities and towns
(c) Development of suburban and exurban areas
(d) All of the above
The increase in the proportion of tertiary employment over time at the expense of both
primary and secondary employment
(a) is peculiar to the western industrial countries.
(b) is strictly an American phenomenon.
(c) is present generally in all industrial countries.
(d) is restricted to countries with relatively small government sectors.
The first industry to use interchangeable parts in the U.S. was
(a) machine tools.
(b) guns.
(c) cotton textiles.
(d) watches.
For the period we are studying (1789″1860), the United States
(a) was a high tariff, protectionist nation.
(b) derived the vast majority of federal revenues from the tariff.
(c) was divided on the question of the tariff, with the South generally in opposition to it.
(d) was characterized by all of the above.
By 1860, the U.S.
(a) had achieved an equal distribution of income and wealth.
(b) had experienced growth in both agriculture and manufacturing, but growth in
manufacturing had begun to outpace agriculture.
(c) land had become the primary income-earning asset.
(d) experienced a slowdown in urbanization and rapid expansion in agriculture at the
expense of manufacturing.
Investment banks specialize in
(a) Managing borrowing and the deposits of its customers
(b) Managing commercial papers
(c) Facilitating the loan interactions between banks and merchants
(d) Handling long-term securities such as stocks, bonds and other securities.