10. Which is the federal government’s official measure of how much output our economy produces?
11. What is a business cycle?
12. Compare and contrast a recession and a depression; describe some of the key characteristics of each of these two economic phases.
Now, go to Encarta Online Concise Encyclopedia and find the article entitled Economics.
NOTE: It would be very wise to add the Encarta Online Concise Encyclopedia URL to your bookmarks or favorites. We use this site quite often in this course, and it is only given in this lesson!
13. Write AT LEAST one-paragraph summarizing the influence of Adam Smith on modern economic thought. (Note: You can also see the Encarta Online Concise Encyclopedia article specifically about him, or get some information on the Internet, if you prefer.)
14. What is mercantilism?
15. What was the goal of this philosophy?
16. What was the main idea of physiocracy?
Now, read Encarta Online Concise Encyclopedia’s article about Karl Marx.
17. Write AT LEAST one paragraph summarizing Karl Marx’s influence on modern economic thought. (Note: As with Adam Smith, you can also see the Encarta Online Concise Encyclopedia article specifically about Marx, or get some information on the Internet, if you prefer.)
Now, go down to the section entitled Economic Systems (In the article entitled Economics).
18. Give an example of what the US government has done in the past to intervene in an otherwise relatively free market economy.
19. Why do you think the government intervenes in such instances?
20. What are some of the disadvantages of a capitalist economy?
21. Briefly compare and contrast the economic systems used in Sweden and in the former Yugoslavia.
22. What was Adam Smith’s most famous and important work?
23. Some schools of thought believed that bullion was crucial to a country’s economic sustinence; others believed that land was the most important commodity. What did Smith believe was the most important element to an economy?
24. What is the “invisible hand”?
25. Adam Smith wrote, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.”
Do you agree? Why or why not?
In many ways, Adam Smith’s economic ideas underpin Western ideas of enterpreneurialism. Being an entrepreneur means organizing a business or series of business ventures that are undertaken with considerable possibility for profit and with considerable risk for loss. The risk factor, balanced with the possibility for significant profit-taking, makes entrepreneurial business ventures attractive to some, while frightening to others. Excessive government regulation regarding employee benefits or environmental restraints and responsibilities, no matter how beneficial to society as a whole, can “kill” some ventures before they get off the ground. Benevolent governmental tax policies regarding small businesses, as well as incentive programs to help businesses get established, are key factors in the numbers of successful entrepreneurial ventures. The key to success when starting a business is knowledge. Know your business from all angles, including expenses, record keeping, advertising, and risk.
26.
NEW QUESTION AS OF 11-17-08: How did Adam Smith feel about government intervention in capitalism?
27.
NEW QUESTION AS OF 11-17-08: Under what circumstances did Adam Smith feel government intervention was warranted?
28. What are two advantages of improving the “dexterity” (ease of movement) of workers?
29. What are the advantages of moving the tasks between workers rather than the workers from task to task — that is, creating an assembly line?
30. What are the advantages of the invention and use of machines?
31. Name four ways Henry Ford produced cars more efficiently by using an assembly line.
32. List three reasons why Ford raised his worker’s wages to $5.00 a day.

Here is a little “article” I wrote on the goodness of online piracy:
The Goodness of Online Piracy
For years, we’ve been going to record stores and buying CD’s, and that sure made the record companies lots of money. But now things have changed, and by that, I mean we can “steal records” in the comfort of our own home with a little thing called “file transfer”. Yes, to all those who aren’t as tech savvy as the average teenager, you can import CD’s onto your computer. Each song is on an audio file which is put directly into your hard drive. With the greatness of the Internet, we can share files with our friends, whether it be lyrics to a song we wrote, or just a song by some band which we happened to discover. With file transfer, we can get these audio files absolutely free, and since it gives the CEO’s no coin, they are angered about it. The joke is on them now since they live like it’s 1992, and the only thing they can do is make the average consumer “pity the artist” for “not getting the money he deserves”. In all my years of pirating, I can say that people have told me that numerous times, and I tell them reasons to not believe any of those lies.
First off, bands and artists make 90% of their profits from touring and merchandising. Even though record prices as well as song prices on iTunes are ridiculous, it still barely has any effect on the artist whether we buy it or steal it. For years, anti-piracy activists have used made up statistics to back up their evidence, which we all know is a load of crap, considering artists that are signed to Capital Records don’t just make platinum records with only $100,000 in their bank account. While most of the brainwashed sheep actually don’t mind buying records, those with a brain actually know the injustice that has come about with the record companies ripping us off in exchange for us doing nothing more than simply buying their records. They say downloading an album off the Internet is the exact same thing as stealing a CD from the record store. Once again, another load of crap right there. When we steal CD’s from the record store and get caught, it’s considered a misdemeanor, and not only do we show lack of support for the artist and record company, but we show lack of support for the record store. However, when we download albums off the Internet, we only show lack of support for the artist and record company, and what comes out of that if we get caught? A $100,000 lawsuit from the CEO’s who are so whiny just because they were a few bucks short.
Nobody should pity the artists at all. They don’t become poor. In fact, they get more money than the average working citizen can ever dream of getting regardless of all the CD’s that have been “stolen” off the Internet. Not only does online piracy increase their popularity, but it also makes people want to see them live and actually pay for a few tickets.
Music has a powerful impact on us, and it’s something that will forever change our lives. The sad truth is that it has become a marketing product, and the only way to fight that is to steal all the music you can steal. I advise everyone that is reading this to steal all the music you can steal. Fill your hard drive up with everything you want, and just steal it. You’ll be doing the artists a favor as well as music in general. Steal it, steal it, steal it!

i need to find 2 articles on each topic. 1-fundraising and charity giving.schools no longer rely on bake sales n car washes local restaurants donate a percentage of their receipts to a school activity.do corporations make a profit off tehir contacts with non-profit fundraising or do they just write it off on tehir taxes? are fundraising efforts replacing taxes?how will this pervasive fundraising impact society?
2-protection of national treasures.a major concern.as chemicals in the air increase, they are having adverse effects on many natural and manmade obejects nations hold as part of their heritage.how will these national treaseures be perserved for future generations?3-cultural prejudice.we must be thinkers who accept differences.will cultural prejudice continue to be a sociietal factor in the future?4-caring for elders.basic living needs and personal care may be unaffordable for elders.since most adults need to work to be able to support their own familieshow will wesupport elders

Prof wonders what’s fair about Fair Trade?
TheStar.com – living – Prof wonders what’s fair about Fair Trade?
The goal was to shift more money to poor farmers
March 21, 2007
Stuart Laidlaw
Faith & Ethics Reporter
Gavin Fridell brings his own cup – emblazoned with the Trent University logo – when he goes to a coffee shop, chooses only Fair Trade coffee and comments on how he’s not doing enough to help poor farmers in developing countries.
“You can’t think that shopping is your ultimate political act,” he says in an interview at York University, where his book was launched last week. “You have to do more.”
Fridell, an assistant politics professor at Trent and a graduate of York, has just released Fair Trade Coffee: The Prospects and Pitfalls of Market-Driven Social Justice, a book taking a critical look at the successes and failures of the fast-growing Fair Trade sector.
Coffee is the top-selling product in the Fair Trade market, which includes such items as tea, chocolate, bananas, sugar and fruit juices. Long the preference of committed social activists, such products have gone mainstream in the last couple of decades, resulting in booming sales.
Fair Trade products must be produced under strict conditions – governing environmental sustainability, labour policies, education and income distribution – before the labelling agencies give the products their stamp of approval. The idea is to ensure that consumers’ dollars get to those producing the products.
Sales of Fair Trade coffee have quadrupled in Canada in the last decade, to more than 600 tonnes a year, Fridell writes. Worldwide, some 20,000 tonnes are sold each year, with a growth rate of almost 40 per cent as the coffee moves into new markets.
In his book, however, Fridell charges that such growth has come because Fair Trade has veered far from its founding goals more than 60 years ago to build an alternative trading system that emphasizes social justice and sustainable development over profit.
Instead, he says, Fair Trade has become caught up in consumer culture, and risks becoming little more that an “ethical fig leaf” for companies trying to ride on Fair Trade’s coat-tails to attract socially conscious customers.
Such a pairing, Fridell warns, could ultimately prove to be Fair Trade’s downfall. “Fair Trade has made gains, but at the expense of being co-opted.”
As well, he warns, large coffee companies are watering down the concept of Fair Trade by coming up with their own proprietary blends that sound socially conscious – such as shade-grown or eco-friendly coffee – but which have far less stringent guidelines than Fair Trade.
Fridell still supports buying Fair Trade products, and does so himself, as an act of solidarity with peasant farmers trying to build better lives for their families, but says merely doing so is not going to be enough to make for a truly just or equitable trading system.
That, he says, will take political action. “If you really want to build a world that’s truly just, you’re going to have to take your Fair Trade coffee knowledge and get political,” he advises. “Think about the party you vote for.”
While most people had never heard of Fair Trade products until a decade or so ago, the movement has been around since the 1940s, with Oxfam among its early proponents, Fridell writes.
It began as a reaction to an unequal power dynamic between poor developing countries and large multinational corporations that dominate trade.
The idea was to showcase how trade could better be used to encourage development in the Third World, pull more people out of poverty and, one trade deal at a time, build an alternative outside the corporate world.
That never happened. With early Fair Trade products being sold exclusively in specialty Fair Trade stores and church basements, their markets remained small and their influence limited.
By the late 1980s, many Fair Traders were arguing that they needed to get the corporations on board. Labelling systems were developed to help the products get into mainstream stores, with Fair Trade labels used to brand them as items worthy of a higher price.
Coffee companies were successfully lobbied to include Fair Trade products on their shelves, alongside conventional beans. Grocery stores began offering Fair Trade coffee, as well, vastly expanding the market for such products.
The shift, Fridell says, has made Fair Trade part of Western consumer culture, dependent on the whims of fickle shoppers and dangerously tied to large corporations.
Multinational Starbucks, for instance, has become Canada’s largest retailer of Fair Trade coffee, but is so large that ethically grown beans represent no more than 2 per cent of its annual sales.
Fridell says that while Fair Trade groups now need such big companies to stay afloat, those same chains don’t need Fair Trade for anything more than enhancing their corporate image. “They only have to get on board en

North Hardin-With hearts all over the world tonight students show their affection by purchasing items from the school store.
It all began in December when the Entrepreneurship Class started to prepare for Valentines Day. The school store stalked up on balloons, stuffed bears, and little gift bags with candy and a little bear. When Valentines Day drew nearer they received three different colors of roses and carnations.
Students who want to make a purchase should hurry soon because the most popular items are balloons and flowers. After the Valentine rush is gone you most likely will end up with a stuffed animal. Orders for these items started as soon as February 4th.
Jessica McNally and Katie Harrison are excellent students when it comes to the Entrepreneurship Class and they both find this class easy. However, Harrison said, “During Valentines Day it’s really hectic and people are demanding.” This shows how even though this Hallmark Holiday is about love sometimes people forget to share it with everyone instead of just one person.
Many students ask why they should purchase items at the school store. The truth is its convenient and it benefits the school. Grant said, “The profit is used to go get other supplies. Without a little higher price we would just have to sell pencils.”
The Entrepreneurship Class helps students learn what to purchase and how to advertise. This class is as real life as possible. There are four different divisions you can partake in; there is management, production, advertising, and sales. Grant enjoys working with the school store because it is real life. The students have to be time managers to get the everyday duties done and do book work which makes some days busier than others.