POLITICAL ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT

Question 1

Before unification in 1871, many of Germany’s regional governments played a strong role promoting economic growth, thus blurring the distinction between the state and the market. True or False

Answer 1

True

Question 2

In the late nineteenth century, business and political elites in Germany realized to achieve economic success, it would necessary to establish and support small business firms. True or False

Answer 2

False

Question 3

German economic policy after World War II were indirect and supportive rather than heavy-handed and over-regulatory. True or False

Answer 3

True

Question 4

In the late 1940s, the idea of a strong central state in Germany was discredited because of the excesses of Nazism and the American occupation authorities’ preference for the public sector. True or False

Answer 4

False

Question 5

Currently, Germany has no minimum wage like elsewhere in Europe. True or False

Answer 5

True

Question 6

Whereas unions in Germany address collective bargaining issues, including the setting of wages, hours, and working conditions, works councils concentrate on social and personnel matters. True or False

Answer 6

True

Question 7

Similar free-market economies throughout Europe and the United States, Germany will slash wages to maintain market share rather than preoccupy itself with product quality. True or False

Answer 7

False

Question 8

Germany’s highly-skilled blue-collar workers are able to afford expensive cars, obtain high-quality medical care, and enjoy six weeks of paid vacation each year. True or False

Answer 8

True

Question 9

Most Germans are shocked to hear that many Americans think global warming is a matter of belief. True or False

Answer 9

True

Question 10

By keeping skilled workers on the payroll, with some help from the government and taxpayers, business was able to get a jump on the economic recovery after the 2008 crisis. True or False

Answer 10

True

Question 11

Ironically, it was the SPD-Green (left-oriented) government that sponsored far-reaching changes that made labor law, pension policy, and unemployment insurance less generous to workers. True or False

Answer 11

True

Question 12

The costs of unification, adjustment to the EU, and globalization have begun to challenge Germany’s high standard of living and well-paid work force. True or False

Answer 12

True

Question 13

At reunification, the pay gap between men and women was nearly twice as high in West Germany as in East Germany. True or False

Answer 13

True

Question 14

It is far harder for American women to achieve positions of power and responsibility than it is for their German counterparts. True or False

Answer 14

False

Question 15

Young people in Germany have a lower unemployment than the adult population unlike much of Europe. True or False

Answer 15

False

Question 16

The international community has accused Germany of benefitting from a strong world economy while taking on too few political and military responsibilities. True or False

Answer 16

True

Question 17

Germany remains the economic anchor of the EU, while Germany’s membership in the EU has enabled it to avoid taking on political responsibilities, such as UN peacekeeping. True or False

Answer 17

False

Question 18

The higher-valued euro still makes it difficult for the export-oriented German economy to sell its goods in the Americas or Asia. True or False

Answer 18

True

Question 19

If anything, the euro made it much more difficult for countries like Greece, Ireland, and Portugal to borrow revenue, assuring a faster economic recovery in 2010 and 2011 for Germany. True or False

Answer 19

False

Question 20

Zollverein: a) established 1823 to increase closer cooperation between industry and government, b) social upheaval of the 1840s among German principalities over taxation, c) a customs union created by German states to propel industrial modernization, d) created a framework by which German states could deal with the regions political issues.

Answer 20

c) a customs union created by German states to propel industrial modernization

Question 21

A system that aims to combine the efficiency of market economies with a concern for fairness for a broad range of citizens: a) communism, b) social market economy, c) utilitarianism, d) democratic centralism.

Answer 21

b) social market economy

Question 22

A bargaining system in which important policies are established and often carried out with the participation of trade unions and business associations: a) democratic corporatism, b) social integration, c) channeled industrial-employee integration, d) assimilated collectivism.

Answer 22

a) democratic corporatism

Question 23

The seventeen members of the European Union who share a common currency, the euro: a) European Assembly, b) European States of the Union, c) the Union of Europe, d) Eurozone

Answer 23

d) Eurozone

Question 24

Germany is the second largest exporter in the world next to the top exporter: a) China, b) India, c) Japan, d) the United States.

Answer 24

a) China

Question 25

The following has adopted an economic laissez-faire policy: a) France, b) Germany, c) Japan, d) United States.

Answer 25

d) United States

Question 26

In the German system, laws that set broad parameters for economic behavior but also require subsequent elaboration, often through formal agreements between employers and employees. a) framework regulations, b) state-led principles, c) limited policy directives, d) dual federalism.

Answer 26

a) framework regulations

Question 27

What has enabled Germany to produce high-quality goods for decades? a) the government provides significant subsidies to private industry, b) the government aggressively controls the economy, establishing strict rules from which industry operates, c) there are extensive vocational programs, d) a truly free market system exists that allows industry to pay low wages and limit production costs.

Answer 27

c) there are extensive vocational programs

Question 28

Which of the following are responsible for much of Germany’s economic policy-making? a) the central government, b) the political parties, c) semipublic institutions, d) the lander.

Answer 28

c) semipublic institutions,

Question 29

The social market economy is part of the broader system in which national and state governments delegate certain policy-making authority to private and semipublic institutions: a) democratic centralism, b) public bureaucracies, c) governmental contagion, d) democratic corporatism.

Answer 29

d) democratic corporatism.

Question 30

The following allows representatives of workers and trade unions in Germany to obtain voting seats on the supervisory boards of directors of firms with 2,000 or more employees: a) integration, b) co-determination, c) seminal decision-making, d) constructive interaction.

Answer 30

b) co-determination

Question 31

In Germany, what happens to the roughly 60 percent of German young adults who do not go to a university? a) most of them will enter a three-year apprenticeship program tied to some company and school, b) most will enter the military where they will develop the necessary skill-set to compete in the job market, c) most will probably work in the multitude of small businesses directed by a network of family and friends, d) most are on their own, with minimal to no supervision or direction.

Answer 31

a) most of them will enter a three-year apprenticeship program tied to some company and school

Question 32

The unemployment rate for the least skilled workers in East Germany is about: a) 15 percent, b) 20 percent, c) 26 percent, d) 40 percent.

Answer 32

d) 40 percent

Question 33

. In the early 1990s, the Kohl government badly misjudged the costs of unification, which, by the early 1990s, was consuming about what percent of Germany’s national budget? a) 9 percent, b) 13 percent, c) 17 percent, d) 20 percent

Answer 33

d) 20 percent

Question 34

By 2009, what was the participation rate of women in the workforce in Germany? a) 49 percent, b) 66 percent, c) 72 percent, d) 80 percent

Answer 34

b) 66 percent

Question 35

Many young people in Germany and elsewhere hold values that focus more on lifestyle concerns, including ecology and personal freedom, rather than bread-and-butter economic issues: a) premiere focus, b) ultra-accumulation, c) counter-reactionary, d) post-materialist

Answer 35

d) post-materialist

Question 36

Which if the following puts greater strain on the German welfare state? a) the low birthrate and the increasing age of the baby boom generation, b) the high drop-out of primary and secondary school students, c) the increased number of immigrants that have fewer skills than their German counterparts, d) the dramatically increasing costs of health care with no effective means of control.

Answer 36

a) the low birthrate and the increasing age of the baby boom generation

Question 37

During the Third Reich the state encouraged German industry to: a) repress ________, b) employ ______ labor, c) and focus production of ________.

Answer 37

a) workers, b) slave, c) weapons

Question 38

Until the 1990s, Germany provided generous social benefits to almost everyone, including: a) support for public ________, b) subsidies for the _____, c) virtually free higher and vocational __________, d) and a comprehensive ________ state.

Answer 38

a) transit b) arts c) education d) welfare

Question 39

Germany has specific institutional arrangements when it comes to how its economy functions which includes: a) worker and union participation in ___________, b) tightly organized ___________, c) and the elaborate system of _______________ training,

Answer 39

a) management b) capitalism c) apprenticeship

Question 40

What did the euro’s promise provide for both Germany and its EU members? a) it hoped to ________ European neighbors from weakening their _________ at Germany’s expense. b) in return, neighbors would receive less _________, c) and more ___________ capital.

Answer 40

a) prevent, currency b) inflation c) investment