9.4 A Changing Economy Flashcards
What was the Digital Revolution?
The rise of digital technology in the economy such as computers
What technological innovations allowed the computer to become a mass consumer goods and a huge part of the economy?
Microprocessors
What were two computer companies that facilitated the mass production of computers?
Apple and IBM
What is the internet?
A series of of interconnected computer pages that could be accessed all over the world by dialing into the network
How did computers and the internet alter American society?
- Email took the role of hand-written memos
- File Sharing allowed people to share music files easily altering how the music industry did business
- It impacted news and media industries that failed to digitalize their content for the new age
- Amazon.com and remote shopping with shipping putting many brick and motor stores out of business
What is one way that the Digital Revolution improve the economy?
Improved productivity with increased connectivity
What factors minimized improved standards of living despite increased productivity in digital age?
- Changing nature of work in the digital age and the growing income gap
How has the nature of work changed in American society?
The manufacturing industry lost many jobs as they were outsourced overseas while the service industry gained many jobs
What is an example of free trade agreements that have made it easier to outsource manufacturing to other countries?
The General Agreement of Trade and Tariffs
What was one major impact of the decline of manufacturing jobs and the outsourcing of the jobs on American society in the late 20th century and early 21st?
The decline of American Labor Unions
At what time in American society did labor unions reach their peak?
1955
What was a major blow to labor unions in 1981?
When Reagan got a bunch of striking air-traffic controllers fired
What were Reagan’s economic policies?
Supply-Side Economics
Why was Reagan against service sector unions?
He supported the supply side of economics and they were inhibiting its production
What is evidence of growing wealth inequality from 1979 to modern day?
The top 1% has had their real-wages increased 245% while the average American has only experienced a 40% increase
What has led to the growing wealth inequality in American society?
- The decline of high-paying manufacturing jobs and the rise of low-paying service jobs
- The restructuring of Reagans’ tax codes which have privelage the top 1%
