According to Rosenberg (2004), the U.S. economy between the Civil War and World
War II was relatively poor in which of its productive resources?
(a) Land
(b) Labor
(c) Capital
(d) Entrepreneurial talent
The objections to the Walsh-Healy Act of 1936, which mandated “prevailing wages” in
government employment,
(a) concerned the tendency of government wages to undercut those of the private sector.
(b) came from the labor unions.
(c) held that unemployment would be maintained artificially high.
(d) held that payment of prevailing wages would reduce the national debt too slowly.
During the colonial period, regulation of business activities was the right of government
and its dutyextensive regulation was done, such as licensing, inspection, price fixing,
etc. Which statement best describes regulation in the decades after 1789?
(a) Regulation continued at about the same level as during the colonial period.
(b) As commerce and manufacturing became more complex, the old police-power
controls by detailed inspection became increasingly difficult to maintain and many
controls were abolished by the states.
(c) Because the economy was becoming more complicated, the task of regulation
shifted to the federal government.
(d) Regulation was abandoned because it was inconsistent with property rights
guaranteed by the Constitution.
Historically barriers to development in the U.S., such as the dry deserts of some of the
country’s western states, have been solved by
(a) only government action.
(b) only private action.
(c) a blend of government and private actions.
(d) foreign expertise.
The Constitution contains a provision that states that no laws shall be passed “impairing
the obligation of contracts.” This provision
(a) meant that the English common law was legislated for the new republic.
(b) was an innovation by the authors of the Constitution and not found in British law.
(c) was only a minor aspect of developing the new idea of government by law and not
by men.
(d) was a controversial provision and opposed by many delegates.
Which of the following entities was blamed in part for the speculative activity leading
to the crash of 1929?
(a) Large manufacturing enterprises
(b) Brokers and their firms who extended loans to customers interested in buying stocks
on the margin
(c) The Federal Reserve System
(d) New mom and pop businesses
The 1920s is sometimes described as the decade representing the emergence of “mass
society.” This refers to developments in all of the following except
(a) Production methods and communication systems
(b) Consumption patterns and installment credit
(c) Attitudes and culture
(d) There is no “except”; all of the above are part of the emergence of “mass society”
What causes the property owners and non-unionized workers in this country to be
hostile toward organized labor?
(a) The perception that unions will strive to make gains for unskilled labor at the
expense of everyone else
(b) The perception that unions have traditionally championed the rights of women
(c) The fear that the government will take over corporate America
(d) Jealousy and fear of organized labor’s well-known ability to “deliver the votes” for
candidates of its choice in national elections
The South was characterized by all of the following except
(a) large plantations and slave labor.
(b) a more unequal distribution of income and wealth than in the North.
(c) a lack of public education systems.
(d) a strong manufacturing sector.
Which of the following cases was most important for ensuring the United States an
internal common market?
(a) Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837)
(b) McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
(c) Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
(d) Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)
In the period 1960″95,
(a) the relations between capital and labor (owners and workers) continued to be as
hostile and violent as they were in the 1930s and earlier.
(b) the relations between capital and labor (owners and workers) continued to be
cooperative and peaceful, as they had been throughout U.S. history.
(c) an accord was struck which involved more cooperative relations between capital and
labor and encouraged high rates of productivity in industry.
(d) the federal government intervened with a strong hand to ensure that labor and
capital worked together cooperatively.
Placing restrictions on business opportunities through government licensing and other
controls
(a) is not allowed now and never has been in American history.
(b) is not allowed now but was provided for by the Constitution and allowed until the
20th century.
(c) is allowed now but was not allowed during the colonial period nor in the decades
immediately following the establishment of the new nation.
(d) has always been allowed in American history.
The statistical details on the U.S. balance of international payments between 1790 and
1860 help economic historians determine
(a) what the U.S. sold domestically.
(b) how other countries paid for their own domestic goods and services.
(c) how the U.S. paid other countries for their exports.
(d) changes in domestic trade patterns.
Which one of the following economic activities was NOT generally undertaken in New
England in the colonial period?
(a) Fishing
(b) Farming
(c) Tobacco production
(d) Shipbuilding
Developments which marked the beginning of the modern period of Western Europe
around the year 1500 did not include which of the following?
(a) The rise of nation states and decline in power of the feudal nobility
(b) The Protestant Reformation
(c) Creation of national markets, commercial growth and exploration abroad
(d) The rise of Islam to centralized power in North America
The closing of the frontier in the early 20th century led eventually to
(a) exhausting the land of all fertility by overusing it.
(b) a change from an “intensive” to an “extensive” use of the land.
(c) an emphasis on water conservation projects and the irrigation of arid lands.
(d) the sale of Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands to provide more
land for private agriculture.
Heavy business taxes
(a) vary according to firm size.
(b) benefit small firms but cost large ones.
(c) stifle entrepreneurial activity.
(d) can be described by all of the above.
What was the typical policy of the British colonies toward the practice of ‘squatting” or
freely settling and cultivating the land without any formal transfer of ownership?
(a) Squatting was encouraged by colonial officials as a way to encourage settlement of
the land.
(b) Squatting was discouraged by colonial officials because of the legal ownership of
land by the Indians.
(c) Squatting was generally discouraged by colonial officials; formal transfer of
ownership to settlers was required because the British Crown and their designated
officials claimed ownership to the land.
(d) There was no general policy toward the practice of ‘squatting”; it was left to the
individual settlers.
Which group came out of World War I (1914″18) better off?
(a) Industrial and agricultural workers
(b) Creditors
(c) Individuals depending on investment
(d) People living on fixed incomes
The trade deficit and federal budget deficit plagued which U.S. presidential
administration with high inflation and low levels of production and employment?
(a) Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933″45)
(b) Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953″61)
(c) John F. Kennedy (1961″63)
(d) Ronald W. Reagan (1981″89)
As entrepreneurs find new market niches and help specific industries grow, other
industries will
(a) grow proportionately.
(b) grow disproportionately.
(c) fail.
(d) grow disproportionately and fail.
From 1860 to 1910, international net capital flow into the U.S.
(a) was positive when the U.S. economy expanded.
(b) was neutral and not influenced by the U.S. business cycle.
(c) was negative when the U.S. economy grew.
(d) was positively impacted by U.S. discussions about and actual restrictions on
immigration.
The American manufacturing system began to emerge inthe years prior to the Civil War.
Which of the following was not an important aspect of the system?
(a) Extensive or increased use of craftsmen
(b) Mass production of goods in factories
(c) The production of standardized goods
(d) Extensive use of machinery and equipment
Brinley Thomas’ (1954) thesis explains
(a) fluctuations in immigration.
(b) fluctuations in European domestic investment.
(c) fluctuations in European foreign investment.
(d) all of the above.
Which of the following labor organizations was limited to skilled craft workers and
emphasized that unions should control the place of employment; stick to wages, hours,
and working conditions in their negotiations; win strikes; and, in politics, “reward our
friends and punish our enemies”?
(a) The National Labor Union
(b) The Knights of Labor
(c) The American Federation of Labor
(d) The American Labor Union
During World War I (1914″18), national debt soared, leading to
(a) money creation and inflation.
(b) money creation and deflation.
(c) money destruction and inflation.
(d) money destruction and deflation.
What does an empirical analysis of the key votes at the Constitutional Convention
suggest?
(a) Merchants, manufacturers, capitalists, creditors, and public and private security
holders supported a national system of government.
(b) Delegates from larger and coastal states, as well as bankers and other private debt
holders, were most likely to support the new Constitution.
(c) Slaveholders were likely to stand in opposition to the Constitution, while farmers
and debtors were either opposed or indifferent.
(d) All of the above are correct.
What does the idea of a trade-off between inflation and unemployment mean?
(a) That lower inflation could be established but only at the cost of higher
unemployment
(b) That lower unemployment could be achieved but only at the cost of more
government spending
(c) That lower inflation could be established but only at the cost of lower
unemployment
(d) That lower unemployment could be achieved but only at the cost of lower inflation
rates
For the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century, which of the following did NOT
occur?
(a) The demand for foreign goods declined relatively as domestic income expanded.
(b) Population soared.
(c) Government intervention in market affairs slowed considerably.
(d) The competitive economy fueled industrialization in the U.S.
At the time of the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution first launched in
(a) France.
(b) Germany.
(c) England.
(d) Spain.
What do the foreign leaders investing in the industrial enclaves of developing countries
of today have in common with those foreign investors who helped colonize North
America?
(a) Both sets of leaders exploit the labor of the indigenous people.
(b) Both expect to make personal and business sacrifices, take on risks and
gain something of high expected value.
(c) Both are driven primarily by their desires to extract materials for high profits.
(d) Both strive to boost agricultural profits in international markets in the
developing countries in which they invest.