final exam Flashcards
John Rawls
veil of ignorance (attempt at neutrality) and accident of birth
informs incentive
merit and meritocracy (american dream)
merit and meritocracy (american dream)
fair equality of opportunity and gains that are distributed solely on your own work and quality (ies); socioeconomic mobility is equal for all at birth and advancements are due to extra effort and better character
why would Utilitarianism be rejected?
- Would / could not trade rights in exchange for socioeconomic gains
2.Socioeconomic inequalities would be addressed using a different principle
different principle
Any inequalities are arranged so that they are to the greatest benefit to the least of us.
Libertarianism
Free market ideals; Ultimate freedom at all cost; don’t really care what happens to the people around you
Mills and Bentham’s critique of Utilitarianism
a. Higher and lower values / utility can be measured
b.Using others as a ‘means’ to some ‘end’
c.Utilitarianism drowns out individual distinctions
what are some examples of libertarianism?
~strong rights theory
~nozick: self ownership
~No paternalistic laws (seat belt laws etc…)
~You cannot legislate morality (abortion)
~Q: Is taxation and redistribution a form of stealing and slavery?
Libertarianism
Individual rights dominate ideals of community obligation
“I’m going to ask you about the instance where everyone raises their hands. And what that meant: what did it mean when he asked “how many of you are first born” and what did their response mean? Use the terms above”
He wanted to show that there is a bias, internationally, where 1st borns from genetic and biological sense get the “stuff” every birth after that gets less stuff. 1st borns get a family name, they get a self esteem boost that generates confidence in the rest of your life. the 1st born is showered with material goods that help them succeed in life.
What
was the veil of ignorance about i.e., Why was it needed
what does ‘accident of birth’ represent?
What is
merit and why might it be important to a capitalist society?
What is a libertarian and what are some good
and bad things about it?
What is utilitarianism?
What are some of its good and bad qualities?
What does
the Difference Principle have to do with incentives, effort, and self-ownership/responsibility?
When he
asked all the first-born students in the audience to raise their hands; What happened and what did that
represent?
Which of the following statements explains why specialization increases economic productivity
Results in efficiency and higher quality
Why does economics play an important role in our lives
Helps us understand the gas shortage of the 1970s
People have diff skills talents interests so they will be better at some jobs than others” which job studies plants
botanist/botany
What kind of econ system does the following statement describe: a country where the companies are owned by the government:
command economy
Is the following statement t/f : the law of demand states that as price increase quantity of demand decreased and vise versa
true
Is the following statement an example of supply, quantity of supply, law of supply, or nothing else : when labor goes up the wages go up
quantity of supply
Is the following statement equilibrium price or quantity: oranges of quantity is quantity supplied at any given price
Equilibrium quantity
How much meaning and correlation is there between the economy, stock markets, and politics?
Central banking is (arguably) separate; Stocks represent private firm (business) investment and performance which includes international monetary flows, keeping them rather well insulated from national conditions or local shocks; Economic health indicators do not include stock performance; If politics is influencing an economy or stock market(s) then it is a sign that the markets are not free and powers are not separated. This would also indicate improper signaling of preferences, which represents information asymmetry, preventing markets from optimizing ‘naturally’.
How much meaning and correlation is there between the economy, stock markets, and politics?
Free-market governments, like our own, can and do take some actions to accelerate, maintain, and/or retrack economic trends but that does not mean that it has any measurable effect or works as planned. Stocks trend upwards over time (long-run and as designed), with only international crises causing noticeable short-term effects. There is more correlation between population growth, stock prices, and economic growth than almost any other metric.
Do you know how international GDP, PPP, currency, and population relate per capita (head)?
Most of the migration in the world involves people who are moving from countries with relatively low GDP per capita to countries with relatively high GDP per capita. Economic growth leads to a rise in the standard of living.
GDP, PPP, and Inflation: How do you calculate these things and why?
GDP: C + I + G + (X – M) or Consumption + Investment + Government Spending + Net Exports (X – M). PPP: cost of good x in currency 1 (P1) ÷ cost of good x in currency 2 (P2); PPP is a parity conversion over space (two countries) and considering differing currency values. Inflation: B – A ÷ A x 100 or the base year cost of specific good or service B minus the current price for same specific good or service A in another year or month (typically current year or month) divided by good A, times 100 (for the %); Inflation can be thought of as a parity conversion over time. These things help gauge an economy’s health, trajectory, and corresponding actions from a historical and international perspective, mitigating political and chronological valuation biases.
