Work and Economy

Question 1

economy

Answer 1

social institutions through which resources (goods and services) are managed

Question 2

goods vs. commodities vs. services

Answer 2

• goods: physical objects used to meet our needs (can be necessities or luxuries)
• commodities: goods produced for sale on the market
• services: activities that benefit people (ex. healthcare, education, entertainment)

Question 3

use of resources in hunter gatherer societies

Answer 3

• distributed according to need (“usufruct”)

Question 4

use of resources in agricultural socities

Answer 4

• bartering (exchanging one form of goods or services for another)

Question 5

money

Answer 5

• object that a society agrees to assign value to so it can be exchanged for payment
• doesn’t have to be coins -> in early economies, it was often shells, alcohol, etc.

Question 6

mercantilism

Answer 6

• economic policy based on accumulating silver and gold by controlling colonial and foreign markets
• ex. through high taxes

Question 7

how did industrial revoluton change agricultural practices

Answer 7

• people went from subsistence farming (producing only what they need) to large-scale farming to maximize profits

Question 8

4 sectors

Answer 8

• primary: production of raw materials (ie. metals, crops)
• secondary: turns raw materials into finished goods
• tertiary: provides services (ie. childcare, healthcare)
• quaternary: produces ideas (ie. research)

Question 9

market socialism

Answer 9

subtype of socialism that adopts certain traits of capitalism (ie. allowing private ownership of market demands)

Question 10

mutalism

Answer 10

individuals and groups exchange products based on mutually satisfactory contracts

Question 11

modernization theory

Answer 11

• there are natural stages of economic development that all societies go through from undeveloped to advanced
• ie. convergence theory: societies move towards similarity over time as economies develop (aka: “catch-up effect” -> allows poor countries to catch up)

Question 12

recession vs. depression

Answer 12

• recession: occurs when there are two or more consecutive quarters of economic decline
• depression: sustained recession across several economic sectors

Question 13

outsourcing

Answer 13

• contracting jobs to an outside source

- diminished number of blue-collar positions available here

Question 14

automation

Answer 14

replacing workers with technology

Question 15

polarization

Answer 15

gap develops in job market -> most employment opportunities are at highest and lowest levels (gap in middle)

Question 16

dual labour

Answer 16

division of economy into high-wage and low-wage sectors

Question 17

social capital

Answer 17

accumulation of network of social relationships and knowledge -> platform to achieve financial success

Question 18

knowledge divide

Answer 18

division between those who are able to access, create, and utilize knowledge and those who can’t

Question 19

women at work

Answer 19

• women are getting more and better jobs

- still getting paid less than men for same work

Question 20

why can’t we rely on unemployment stats?

Answer 20

• don’t take into account underemployed (people who accept lower-paying jobs that they’re overqualified for)
• only counts those actively looking for work, haven’t earned income in the past 4 weeks, and are ready and able to work

Question 21

structural unemployment

Answer 21

• societal disconnect between people seeking jobs and available jobs
• can be either:
• geographic: jobs aren’t where people who want jobs are
• technological: automation replaces workers

Question 22

working poor

Answer 22

• full-time workers considered poor by standards of relative poverty (according to Market Basket Measure -> lack disposable income to purchase “basket” of basic goods and services)
• Canada has higher percentage of working poor than many other developed countries due to our high standard of living