Which group of economists argues that the stock market crash of 1929 significantly
reduced wealth, causing consumption to fall and resulting in a significant downturn in
residential construction and investments?
(a) Classical economists.
(b) Keynesian economists.
(c) Monetarists.
(d) Austrians.
The Articles of Confederation (1777″1781) did all of the following except
(a) Tax the colonists to finance the central government
(b) Provide a formal means by which the colonists communicated and interacted
(c) Granted significant power to the colonial states
(d) Required negotiations for funding the War between the leaders of the American
Revolution and each colonial state
The colonies traded internationally with regions other than the United Kingdom. They
included all except
(a) Africa
(b) China
(c) West Indies
(d) Southern Europe
The evidence of building costs in the 1920s shows that the decline in total construction
after 1926
(a) reflected the sharp increase in costs as the boom gathered strength.
(b) occurred when building costs remained stable.
(c) occurred in the presence of sharply falling costs that anticipated the 1929 crash.
(d) was a result of the contractionary monetary policies of the Fed.
From an ethical standpoint, the plantation owners of the South typically saw the system
of slavery as
(a) basically superior to the wage-labor system of the North.
(b) basically inferior to the wage-labor system and only likely to exist temporarily.
(c) basically equal to the wage-labor system but more profitable.
(d) not needing a moral justification because slavery had been accepted
without question throughout most of human history.
Which of the following best describes white servitude?
(a) It applied to hired labor.
(b) It was more costly than slavery.
(c) It bound vagrants and orphans into productive employment.
(d) It was pervasive on tobacco, indigo and cotton plantations.
When the federal government makes no attempt to take corrective action, markets
return a recessed economy to full employment levels of production by
(a) laying off workers.
(b) lowering wages.
(c) dropping prices.
(d) doing all of the above.
The term ‘stagflation” refers to an economy with the simultaneous problems of
(a) rising inflation rates and falling unemployment rates.
(b) rising deflation and unemployment rates.
(c) rising inflation and unemployment rates.
(d) falling deflation and unemployment rates.
Differences in what can help explain the wage gap between U.S. born and foreign born
workers employed in the U.S.?
(a) Gender
(b) Schooling
(c) Immigration policy
(d) All of the above
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890
(a) was intended by Congress to prevent monopoly actions by both business and labor
organizations.
(b) was intended by Congress to prevent monopoly actions by business only, but was
also used by the courts as a weapon against labor unions.
(c) was intended as a measure to control unions but was also used by the courts to
control business.
(d) was intended to prevent monopoly actions by business only and was never used by
the courts against unions.
Between 1865 and 1914, individuals in households could use the income they did not
spend to do what?
(a) Purchase stocks
(b) Buy bonds
(c) Place money in savings accounts
(d) All of the above
The comparative advantage of the South was in
(a) small farms producing for the local market.
(b) plantation agriculture producing for export.
(c) manufacturing.
(d) shipbuilding and trades related to shipbuilding.
During the industrialization of the U.S., wealth was
(a) unequally divided among the population but accumulating.
(b) a product of a federal plan for economic development and growth.
(c) the sum of all revenue earned by U.S. households and businesses.
(d) none of the above.
The Erie Canal provided the first reliable and relatively quick east-west link in markets.
This link, consequently,
(a) increased profit margins and expanded markets for agriculturalists.
(b) increased consumer prices in all markets.
(c) increased transportation costs.
(d) hindered trade and the accumulation of wealth.
With regard to the American Revolution, research suggests that
(a) it was not waged against the law but against a particular alien authority.
(b) all contracts, respecting property, remained basically unchanged.
(c) the basic ideas established in the colonial era remained untouched by the
Revolution, apart from the abolition of primogeniture and perpetual entailment.
(d) all of the above are true.
Between 1860 and 1914, the concentration of industrial power did increase. What did
members of the general public perceive to be the result of this heavy concentration?
(a) Expanded output
(b) Lower prices
(c) A transfer of income away from consumers toward big businesses
(d) All of the above
Prior to and during the period of American colonization, the following occurred in
Europe:
(a) Feudal rulers found it easy to force peasants and urban producers to work for them
as long-distance trade expanded, the costs of warfare increased, and the land/labor ratio
increased as consequence of the bubonic plague.
(b) Feudal lords shared profits from output with the peasantry and pumped them into
investment expenditures, which accelerated agricultural growth.
(c) Conflict among lords and peasants led to many peasant and urban revolts, diverting
resources away from production and investment.
(d) Financial stability enabled the nobility of Europe to foster growth among feudal
lands and increase the riches of both rulers and peasants, producing a period of
high economic growth.
Which of the following was a key factor which pushed the nation close to civil war?
(a) The Missouri Compromise of 1820
(b) Dred Scott v. Sanford Supreme Court Case
(c) The Tariff of Abominations of 1828
(d) The Supreme Court practice of “judicial instrumentalism,” which the South
believed undermined the Constitution
Those closest to fomenting a real revolution during the early years of the Great
Depression were
(a) bankers.
(b) farmers.
(c) industrial workers.
(d) the middle class.
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890
(a) did not specify what economic actions are legal.
(b) said that only competitive economic actions were legal.
(c) declared illegal every combination in restraint of trade.
(d) declared none of the above.
Which of the following federal activities was new under the New Deal? The federal
government
(a) subsidized building construction.
(b) provided federal finances to build houses.
(c) established regulatory agencies intended to influence activities in private markets.
(d) engaged in all of the above.
In which of the following cases did the U.S. Supreme Court decide that a corporation
was an “individual” but not a constitutional citizen?
(a) Nebbia v New York (1934)
(b) Munn v Illinois (1877)
(c) McCulloch v Maryland (1819)
(d) Dartmouth College v Woodward (1819)
Funding for canals came from which of the following sources?
(a) Private investments and tolls
(b) Taxes
(c) Borrowing on government credit
(d) All of the above
By restricting the amount of precious metals going into the colonies, the British
significantly hindered economic growth in colonial America.
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.
The National Industrial Recovery Act (1933)
(a) did not permit businesses to set prices and production quotas.
(b) established three advisory boards composed of government, Webb-Pomerene
firms and members of the Federal Reserve System.
(c) was thrown out by the Supreme Court in May 1935.
(d) prohibited collective bargaining.
Land owners with secure and protected property rights are motivated to
(a) use their land productively.
(b) maintain their land and its value as long as the land is owned privately and profits
are realized by the land owners.
(c) not hold their land idle if they face property taxes due to costs imposed by the tax
system.
(d) link land ownership and personal freedom.
How did laborers benefit from World War I (1914″18)?
(a) Their nominal take-home pay rose more than prices increased.
(b) They were placed in military jobs that paid wages higher than private sector jobs.
(c) High-paying jobs in the private sector were created to support the war effort.
(d) Real GNP and national income fell during and shortly after the war.
Government participation in railroad construction was highest in
(a) New England.
(b) the South.
(c) the Midwest.
(d) the Great Lakes Region.
Hughes and Cain (2011) ask: Who suffered from the tariff in the 19th century? What
was their answer?
(a) the government
(b) producers of import-competing goods
(c) consumers
(d) workers in import-competing industries
The report of the 1911 National Monetary Commission
(a) advocated a turn to bimetallism.
(b) advocated unification of the state and national banking systems.
(c) advocated centralized reserve associations which would coordinate commercial
banking processes such as check clearing.
(d) advocated a unified central bank modeled after the Bank of England.
Under the National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864, the U.S. monetary system
(a) experienced drastic changes.
(b) played a role in helping the Union finance the Civil War.
(c) permitted, for the first time, the federal government to charter banks.
(d) protected the rights of states to be the only entities to charter banks.
What did the Proclamation of 1763 and the Quebec Act of 1774 represent?
(a) A continuation of earlier British land policies, but these were no longer workable or
acceptable to the colonists
(b) A temporary change in British land policies, but the change was not workable or
acceptable to the colonists
(c) A permanent change of earlier British land policies that was not acceptable to the
colonists, who wanted a continuation of the old policies
(d) The Proclamation was more of a temporary change, but the Quebec Act represented
a permanent change of earlier policy, neither of which was acceptable to the colonists