Topic 5: Capitalism and Alternatives to Capitalism

Allocative Mechanisms
1.

Broad categories of alternative allocative mechanisms would not include: (a) markets and prices.
(b) brute force. (c) random selection. (d) tradition. (e) merit. (f) government. (g) queuing. (h)
classical liberalism.

2.

An allocation mechanism not paired with an appropriate example would be: (a) Merit; awarding
better grades to the students who perform better on an exam. (b) Random selection; Congress
activates a draft to secure soldiers to serve in Iraq. (c) Tradition; an oldest son inherits a familyowned auto repair shop. (d) Queuing; offering CEO positions to unqualified candidates to
compensate those who suffer most because of capitalistic exploitation. (e) Brute force; Brutus
hits Wimpy four times before Wimpy relents and gives Brutus his marbles and hamburgers.

Laissez Faire Capitalism

3.

Virtues of the price system cited by capitalisms defenders include: (a) freedom and efficiency. (b)
inequitable income distributions. (c) cooperation replacing competition. (d) encouragement of
selflessness.

4.

Two fundamental characteristics of pure capitalism are: (a) private property and laissez-faire policies.
(b) pure competition and growing exploitation of labor. (c) equal income distribution and absolute
freedom. (d) big government and concentrated monopoly power.

5.

From an economic vantage point, broadly defined legal rights most directly determine individuals:
(a) property rights. (b) criminal propensities. (c) class, status, and power. (d) natural rights. (e)
social hierarchies.

6.

Defenders of capitalism would be most likely to favor distribution of income in accord with: (a) need.
(b) Paretos law of distribution. (c) egalitarianism. (d) government policies. (e) productive
contribution.

7.

NOT among reasonable characteristics that might be used to describe an economic system of pure
capitalism would be: (a) competition. (b) income equality. (c) private property. (d) laissez faire.
(e) rivalry.

8.

Pure capitalism would not be characterized by: (a) private individuals owning virtually all productive
resources. (b) government setting relative prices to determine the choices available. (c) the invisible
hand of the marketplace coordinating most economic activity. (d) individuals deciding the best uses
for the resources they own.

9.

Under pure capitalism, private individuals do NOT: (a) own virtually all productive resources. (b)
view relative prices as signals about the choices available. (c) rely primarily on the markets invisible
hand to coordinate economic activity. (d) decide how their resources will be used. (e) adjust to
prices government sets under a gold standard.
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10.

According to its advocates, the efficiency of capitalism is: (a) an inhumane way to judge alternative
economic systems. (b) complemented by a lack of centralized economic power. (c) negatively related
to the extent of competition among private firms. (d) recognized by even such critics of selfinterested behavior as Karl Marx, Mohandas Gandhi, and Richard Cantillon. (e) undermined by the
narrowly self-interested behavior of entrepreneurs.

11.

Allocative failures of a pure market system would not include: (a) the public goods problem
goods that are non-rival and non-exclusive will be underprovided. (b) externalities through which
an imperial government exploits its colonies. (c) monopoly where the price set by the monopoly
exceeds the marginal costs of production. (d) asymmetric information when one party to a
transaction has relevant knowledge not possessed by the other party. (e.g., adverse selection or
moral hazard).

12.

Critics would be least likely to identify as market failures specific to capitalism such problems
as: (a) inadequate adjustments for negative externalities as pollution. (b) enormous disparities in
the distributions of income and wealth. (c) inadequate market incentives for basic scientific
research. (d) control over government policies by a small autocratic elite. (e) the promotion of
competitive instead of cooperative modes of behavior.

13.

Capitalism is often viewed by its critics as inevitably: (a) meeting everyones needs efficiently. (b)
conducive to altruistic behavior. (c) unfair, but highly efficient. (d) incorruptible. (e) pitting a
wealthy elite against the impoverished masses.

14.

Critics of capitalism frequently characterize it as: (a) exploitative of its impoverished workers. (b)
excessively altruistic. (c) conducive to economic success. (d) unfair but incorruptible.

15.

Modern capitalisms critics do NOT characterize it as: (a) efficient and equitable. (b) unstable and
outmoded. (c) exploitative and neurotically competitive. (d) dehumanizing and materialistic.

16.

Alternatives to capitalistic economic systems do not include: (a) communism. (b) socialism. (c)
anarchism. (d) conservatism. (e) syndicalism.

Libertarianism and Classical Liberalism

17.

Adam Smiths system of natural liberty is a clear exposition of the central tenets of: (a)
anarchism. (b) libertarianism. (c) democracy. (d) communism. (e) socialism.

18.

The fundamental ideas of capitalism were systematically outlined in the Wealth of Nations, authored
in 1776 by: (a) John Locke. (b) Adam Smith. (c) Karl Marx. (d) Georg Hegel.

19.

The economic philosophy BEST matched with a normative standard for distributing income is: (a)
Libertarianism Contribution system. (b) Marxism Contribution system. (c) Anarchy Need
based. (d) Christian Socialism Egalitarianism.

20.

Libertarians: (a) strongly oppose all anarchist beliefs. (b) view individual freedom as the most
important goal for any society. (c) approve of central planning under communism. (d) favor
decentralized socialism.

21.

The violent overthrow of capitalism by workers would be opposed by: (a) orthodox Marxists. (b)
syndicalists. (c) liberation theologians. (d) libertarians. (e) anarchists.
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22.

Most libertarians would favor: (a) public parks. (b) mandatory school attendance. (c) legalization of
pornography. (d) regulation of natural monopolies.

23.

Individual freedom as a goal is emphasized most by: (a) Marxists. (b) national socialists. (c)
libertarians. (d) central planners. (e) decentralized socialists.

24.

The group least in favor of violence as a way for workers to seize political power would be: (a)
Marxists. (b) syndicalists. (c) libertarians. (d) anarchists.

25.

Libertarians: (a) strongly oppose anarchists. (b) advocate extensive economic regulation. (c)
champion individual freedoms. (d) align themselves with Lenin and Trotsky.

26.

Libertarians believe that government can be useful: (a) because central planning will eliminate
scarcity. (b) by enforcing contracts and protecting private property rights. (c) in facilitating the
evolution of capitalism into socialism. (d) because good laws can facilitate central planning and
growth. (e) because corporate executives are more corruptible than government bureaucrats.

27.

Closest to anarchists in advocacy of extreme laissez-faire policies are modern: (a) librarians. (b)
libertines. (c) liberals. (d) libertarians. (e) liberation theologians.

28.

Most libertarians would favor government policies to: (a) raise minimum wage laws to reduce
exploitation. (b) protect private property rights and enforce contracts. (c) raise taxes to eliminate
budget deficits. (d) outlaw immoral behavior. (e) re-institute a military draft.

29.

Legalization of such victimless crimes as drug addiction and prostitution is among priorities on
the political agenda of most: (a) Marxists. (b) libertarians. (c) socialists. (d) capitalists. (e) social
contract theorists.

30.

Most libertarians believe that: (a) equity under capitalism requires equal opportunity. (b) drug
dealers should be executed. (c) government is inherently coercive. (d) military service is every
citizens duty. (e) minimum wage laws limit the exploitation of labor.

31.

Private property rights and laissez-faire government policies are most vociferously advocated by:
(a) liberation theologians. (d) Utopian socialists. (c) libertarians. (d) conservative sociologists. (e)
militant environmentalists.

32.

Least related to the other three items would be: (a) central planning. (b) laissez-faire. (c) anarchism.
(d) libertarianism.

33.

The staunchest modern defenders of capitalism are known as: (a) Utopians. (b) liberationists. (c)
anarchists. (d) syndicalists. (e) libertarians.

34.

The primacy of freedom and the view that government should be used only to enforce private
property rights [e.g., contractual issues] are among the central tenets of: (a) anarchism. (b)
libertarianism. (c) socialism. (d) totalitarianism. (e) documentarianism.

35.

Focusing on how government policies frequently inefficiencies and inequities, libertarians

encourage reliance, instead, on the market system, and favor largely eliminating economic
regulation and welfare programs. Legislation most libertarians would not abolish would include:
(a) laws regulating drugs, consensual sex between private individuals, and pornography. (b) a
military draft. (c) wage and price controls. (d) government protection of private property rights.
(e) consumer protection laws.

36.

Right wing libertarians would be most likely to oppose: (a) legalizing gambling, alcohol,
marijuana and other hallucinogenic substances, and all forms of consensual sex. (b) the marginal
approach to decisionmaking. (c) abolishing parental rights to control teenagers after age 16 or
so. (d) laissez faire capitalism. (e) ensuring children rights to a free public education. (f) a
caveat emptor approach to relationships between buyers and sellers. (g) free international trade.
(h) inheritance as a way for people to secure wealth.

37.

Right-wing libertarians believe that government should: (a) forbid psychoactive drugs and
alcohol. (b) adjust property rights through democratic laws and regulations. (c) enact user taxes
to control negative externalities. (d) largely be limited to protecting existing property rights. (e)
provide equal opportunity.

Randian Objectivism, Rugged Individualism, and Social

Darwinism
38.

Author of Atlas Shrugged (1957) and a forceful advocate of unfettered individualism, rational
self interest, and pure laissez-faire capitalism, a notable woman author who did not support the
feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s was: (a) Ayn Rand. (b) Frances Perkins. (c) Jane
Addams. (d) Charlotte Gilman. (e) Joan Robinson.

39.

In The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and other writings, Ayn Rand strongly supported: (a)
pure laissez-faire capitalism. (b) central planning. (c) the modern welfare state. (d) liberation
theology. (e) the womens liberation movement.

40.

Intellectual historians would be least likely to categorize as a Social Darwinist the thinker: (a)
William Graham Sumner. (b) Robert Owen. (c) Simon Newcomb. (d) Ayn Rand. (e) Herbert
Spencer.

41.

Not among the virtues of capitalism proclaimed by its advocates would be: (a) freedom. (b)
efficiency. (c) equity. (d) equality.

42.

The philosophers or schools of thought not correctly matched with the political system they
favored would be: (d) libertarians = minimal [laissez-faire] democratic government. (b) Marxism
= communism, which would ultimately conform to utopian ideals. (c) anarchy = decentralized
democratic government. (a) Plato = a philosopher king with political leadership living in accord
with selfless (communistic) ideals. (e) mercantilism = imperial monarchy in accord with the
divine rights of kings.

43.

Reliance on privately-determined market supplies and demands to determine production and

distribution would be most opposed by advocates of: (a) capitalism. (b) anarchy. (c) classical
liberalism. (d) neoclassical theory. (e) Marxist communism.

Anarchists and Syndicalists

4

44. Advocates of significantly narrowing the scope of government and reducing its size would include:

(a) Christian-, Fabian-, and Utopian-socialists. (b) national socialists and fascists. (c) classical
liberals, anarchists, syndicalists, and libertarians. (d) pre-revolutionary Marxists and liberation
theologians. (e) fundamentalist Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims.
45.

Anarchists, syndicalists, and orthodox Marxists might differ in their specific prescriptions for
beneficial social structures, but all would agree on the wisdom and desirability of: (a) private
property rights. (b) overthrowing the government. (c) a stable money supply. (d) the death
penalty. (e) speculating on the value of tulips in Holland.

46.

Philosophies that view all government as an unnecessary and morally reprehensible instrument
used by modern capitalist elites to oppress workers and the common people include: (a) secular
humanism. (b) anachronism. (c) fundamentalist theocracy. (d) Christian socialism. (e) anarchism
and syndicalism. (f) Utopian socialism.

47.

Anarchists and syndicalists are probably most united in condemning a symbiotic relationship
between: (a) corporate capitalism and big government. (b) bloated defense budgets and political
paranoia. (c) inflation and unreasonable union wage demands. (d) technology and human greed.

48.

Anarchists and syndicalist would agree that governments in capitalistic societies: (a) monopolize
and institutionalize violence through imperialistic wars and political suppression. (b) cannot ensure
social harmony in the absence of law. (c) should closely regulate market capitalism. (d) need central
planning to organize production rationally.

49.

Syndicalists and anarchists are convinced that: (a) international economic integration requires a
common language. (b) private property rights will ensure market efficiency. (c) government serves
the interests of powerful elite groups. (d) reducing peoples wants is the key to overcoming
materialism. (e) news media uniformly conspire against the public interest.

50.

Though not essentially opposed to the market system, one group of critics of capitalism might
blame government for authorizing corporations. They often think that the manipulation of labor
is the result of managers and government officials working together. Their beliefs count on
cooperation among people to ensure social harmony in the absence of government or law. This
social theory is: (a) syndicalism. (b) anarchism. (c) Utopian socialism. (d) Christian socialism.

51.

That all people should individually choose each and every law that pertains to themselves
would be supported most fervently by: (a) socialists. (b) anarchists. (c) disciples of Plato. (d)
bureaucrats.

52.

The view that every individual should be free to choose each and every law that pertains to
himself or herself would be embraced most fervently by: (a) socialists. (b) anarchists. (c)
disciples of Plato. (d) bureaucracies.

53.

Terrorism and random violence as mechanisms to destabilize and then overthrow capitalism
were most strongly advocated by the anarchist philosopher: (a) William Godwin. (b) Mikhail
Bakunin. (c) Mohandas Gandhi. (c) Leo Tolstoy. (e) Prince Kropotkin.

54.

Using terrorism and random violence to overthrow capitalism was most strongly opposed by the
anarchist philosophers: (a) William Godwin, Leo Tolstoy, and Price Kropotkin. (b) Karl Marx,
Friedrich Engels, and Mikhail Bakunin. (c) Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King. (d)
Herbert Spencer, William Graham Sumner, and Ayn Rand. (e) David Ricardo, Ricky Ricardo,
and Lucille Ball.

55.

The views of an individual asserting that, I dont have any problems with authority. I just dont
like people telling me what to do, are most consistent with: (a) socialism. (b) anarchism. (c)
Platonism. (d) capitalism. (e) spiritualism.

56.

The complete elimination of government is among the goals of anarchists and: (a) libertarians.
(b) socialists. (c) capitalists. (d) syndicalists. (e) librarians.

57.

Advocates of syndicalism assert that decisions about production should reside in the hands of:
(a) humanists. (b) the bourgeoisie. (c) capitalists. (d) workers. (e) democratic government.

58.

The profit-sharing plans offered employees by many modern U.S. corporations may trace their
origins back to some ideas imbedded in: (a) syndicalism. (b) Buddhist economics. (c) limits to
growth theory. (d) laissez faire capitalism. (e) physiocracy.

59.

The anarchistic sentiment supported by Leo Tolstoy that government should be abolished in
favor of a free agrarian society with a complete lack of top-down economic control is most
closely aligned with the views of: (a) Marxist socialists. (b) fascists and nihilists. (c) French
physiocrats. (d) syndicalists. (e) Plato and Aristotle.

60.

Organizing society into industry-wide trade unions. (i.e. an oil group, a vehicle group, a tobacco
group, ) after eliminating government, capitalism, and private property rights to major nonhuman resources is called: (a) libertarianism. (b) socialism. (c) anarchism. (d) syndicalism. (e)
mercantilism.

61.

Syndicalists perceive the government as a vehicle used to: (a) help power-hungry elites and
capitalists oppress workers. (b) reorganize society into self-sufficient family groups. (c) centrally
plan and manage nonhuman productive resources. (d) promote healthy national socialism and
corporate capitalism.

62.

Syndicalism refers to an economic system characterized by: (a) subsidies to industrialization and
diminished power for agricultural interests. (b) worker ownership of resources and control of
production. (c) a Marxist dictatorship by the proletariat. (d) capitalistic resource ownership with
central planning of production. (e) democratic voting to determine allocation and distribution.

63.

Violent revolution against capitalism would be most likely to be advocated by: (a) Christian
socialists. (b) Fabian socialists. (c) syndicalists. (d) Utopian socialists. (e) democratic socialists.

64.

Government is always a mechanism through which power-hungry elites, often in concert with
capitalists, exploit workers and the mass of other people, according to the views of: (a) central
planners. (b) revolutionary theologians. (c) Buddhist economists. (d) syndicalists. (e) agrarians.

65.

This group of individuals would abolish the state, corporate capitalism, and private ownership of
nonhuman resources. Each industry would be owned by its workers and run by elected worker
committees. These people are considered (a) libertarians. (b) socialists. (c) moderates. (d)
conservatives. (e) syndicalists.

66.

Some radicals would reorganize society by abolishing the state, capitalism, and the private
ownership of nonhuman resources. A system in which industries are owned by their workers and
run by officers elected by workers is known as: (a) evolutionary socialism. (b) syndicalism. (c)
Fabian socialism. (d) anarchism. (e) nihilism.

67.

Members of the International Workers of the World (IWW), a rowdy group of pre-WWI American
syndicalists, were nicknamed: (a) wobblies. (b) Bowery boys. (c) confederates. (d) robber barons.
(e) union rebels.

68.

The International Workers of the World (IWW) wobblies were: (a) predecessors of the Fabian
Society, and ultimately, the British Labour Party. (c) Russian liberals overthrown by the Bolsheviks
who were lead by Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. (d) advocates of liberation theology who
favored central planning, collective bargaining and profit sharing. (e) pre-World War I syndicalist
radicals united by the goal of taking over U.S. industry.

69.

Pre-World War I syndicalist radicals who sought to take over U.S. industry were members of the:
(a) Fabian Society. (b) International Workers of the World, aka wobblies. (c) Abraham Lincoln
Brigade. (d) American Federation of Labor.

70.

Private property rights are LEAST compatible with pure: (a) libertarianism. (b) anarchism. (c)
laissez-faire policies. (d) syndicalism and pure socialism.. (e) capitalism.

71.

The morsel of wisdom that, The Empireis a bread and butter question, is attributed to (a)
Adam Smith. (b) John Stuart Mill. (c) Henry George. (d) John A. Hobson. (e) Robert L.
Heilbronner.

Socialism
72.

The concept that the rich are the friends of the poor and not their foes was elaborated by: (a)
Karl Marx. (b) Thorstein Veblen. (c) Jane Marcet. (d) Joan Robinson. (e) Mao Zedong.

73.

Most nonhuman resources should be owned jointly by everyone, with government acting as a
trustee, according to the ideals of: (a) laissez-faire philosophy. (b) socialism. (c) anarchism. (d)
environmentalism. (e) libertarianism.

74.

The idea that property resources should be owned in common with government acting as a trustee
is central to the philosophy of: (a) anarchism. (b) capitalism. (c) socialism. (d) fascism.

75.

How scarce resources are equitably allocated in a socialist society was not among the major
concerns of: (a) Vilfredo Pareto. (b) Karl Marx. (c) Gustav Cassel. (d) Albert Schaffle.

76.

French revolutionaries proclaimed goals of Liberte! Egalite! Fraternite! during the 1790s. The
characteristic that would least well apply to an idealized economic system of socialism would be:
(a) vigorous rivalry and competition among business firms. (b) social ownership of productive
resources. (b) collective decision making. (d) equality of opportunity and equality in the
distribution of income and wealth. (e) compassion for the wellbeing of others.
7

77.

Prominent categories of socialism that advocate public ownership of the means of production do
not include: (a) Utopian socialism. (b) Fabian socialism. (c) Marxism. (d) Christian socialism. (e)
libertarian socialism.

78.

Marxists and other socialists tend to agree most about the idea that: (a) socialism will overthrow
communism after the proletarian uprising. (b) major historic changes are controlled by
technological inventions. (c) non-human productive resources should be controlled by the state. (d)
all economic decisions should be decentralized.

79.

The fundamental difference between capitalism and socialism is that: (a) productive resources are
privately owned under capitalism; they are publicly owned under socialism. (b) socialism is
characterized by authoritarian political regimes; capitalism is invariably democratic. (c) markets do
not exist under socialism; they are fundamental to capitalism. (d) central planning is conducted by
socialist bureaucrats; bureaucrats do not exist in capitalism.

80.

In socialist economies: (a) land and capital are owned collectively. (b) private resource ownership is
emphasized. (c) decision making is private and decentralized. (d) all workers receive identical
wages. (e) labor camps ensure full employment.

81.

In socialist economies: (a) major nonhuman resources are owned collectively with government
acting as trustee. (b) capital and land are not scarce resources. (c) production decisions are private
and decentralized. (d) all income is distributed equally.

82.

Socialism is an economic philosophy that emphasizes: (a) rewards according to productive

contribution. (b) social ownership of major capital and property resources. (c) nationalization only
of heavy industry. (d) market resolutions of economic problems. (e) private ownership of heavy
industries.

Utopian Socialism
83.

St. Thomas More advocated collective ownership and free provision of all goods. His writings
became the centerpiece of a movement called: (a) syndicalism. (b) Marxism. (c) Utopian
socialism. (d) libertarianism. (e) communalism.

84.

The conceptual structure of Utopian socialism was elaborated in Utopia, authored by: (a) Percy
Bysshe Shelley. (b) Feodor Dostoevsky. (c) Pierre Joseph Proudhon. (d) Thomas More. (e)
Mikhail Bakunin.

85.

In an ideal Utopian socialist system: (a) all decisions would be made by the government. (b)
markets would allocate all productive resources. (c) all goods would be provided freely. (d)
differences between supplying and demanding would be stressed.

86.

Saint Thomas More, the French philosopher Charles Fourier, and the British philanthropist
Robert Owen embraced a model of socialism in which collective ownership would facilitate
replacement of competitive greed by internal desires to share the fruits of ones production and a
love of work and education. This philosophy, disparaged by Karl Marx as hopelessly idealistic, is
called: (a) revolutionary socialism. (b) Utopian socialism. (c) Christian socialism. (d) Fabian
socialism. (e) evangelical socialism.

87.

That each individual has an equal say, contributes his part to society, and is harmonious in his
contributions with every other individual in that society is reflected most fervently in the theory
of: (a) fascism. (b) mercantilism. (c) anarchy. (d) Utopian socialism.

88.

The Utopian socialist who believed that society should be organized into phalanxes.
(phalansteres) or a Great Hotel arrangement was (a) Robert Owen. (b) Charles Fourier. (c)
Jean-Charles-Lonard Simonde de Sismondi. (d) Karl Marx.

89.

Some thinkers believe collective ownership can foster a love of work and education, and can
replace competitive greed with internal desires to share the fruits of our individual labor. The
idea that internal satisfaction can replace self-interested materialism is least compatible with (a)
Abraham Maslows upper levels in his hierarchy of needs. (b) the British classical liberal
school of thought. (c) Mohandas Gandhis views, sometimes characterized as small is beautiful.
(d) Karl Marxs ultimate communist society. (e) Utopian socialism. (f) Mao Zedongs attempts
to mold a new man in China.

90.

As a means of controlling market power, nationalization refers to: (a) forming national cartels of
sellers. (b) public ownership of giant firms in concentrated industries. (c) public ownership of
everything. (d) a Marxist revolution.

91.

The nationalization of industry is: (a) favored by most libertarians. (b) contrary to socialist ideals.
(c) an antonym for privatization. (d) the central goal for syndicalists. (e) consistent with the ideas of
Mohandas Gandhi and Buddhist economics.

92.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, politics in Great Britain was dominated by the Liberal
and the Conservative Parties. The Liberal Party was subsequently displaced as a major force in
British politics by the Labour Party, which was an outgrowth of the group known as: (a) Fabian
socialists. (b) anarcho-syndicalists. (c) conservative Marxists. (d) Christian socialists. (e)
Utopians.

93.

Nationalization of heavy industry and municipal ownership of public utilities were centerpieces of
the thoughts of: (a) Joseph Stalin. (b) John Locke. (c) the Fabian Society. (d) Karl Marx. (e)
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

94.

When the Labour Party controlled the British Parliament during some periods 1930 -1980, much
of heavy industry was nationalized and effectively confiscatory tax rates were often imposed on
above-average incomes. The results of these policies did not include: (a) emigration from
England by many high-income actors, artists and musicians. (b) low rates of investment in new
capital. (c) relatively slow rates of economic growth. (d) reduced consumption of extravagant
luxury goods by upper-class citizens. (e) lagged adoption of new technologies relative to faster
growing advanced economies.

95.

Limited nationalization of industries or firms within an industry: (a) is increasingly common in the
United States. (b) has never been common in any part of Western Europe. (c) never existed outside
the Soviet bloc. (d) was among the goals of Fabian socialism.

96.

National ownership of large industries is a core tenet of: (a) Utopian socialism. (b) Marxism. (c)
libertarianism. (d) Fabian socialism.
9

97.

Fabian socialism differed with the tenets of Utopian socialism primarily in allowing small
businesses and in stressing extensive social ownership and controls primarily over: (a) heavy
industry and public utilities. (b) civil liberties and voting rights. (c) medical care and education.
(d) unionization, minimum legal wages, and safe working conditions.

98.

Fabian socialists differ from Utopian socialists by advocating the: (a) direction of industry by trade
union syndicates. (b) legalization of child labor. (c) nationalization of heavy industry. (d) distribution
of income and wealth by resource ownership and prices. (e) violent overthrow of imperialistic
capitalism.

99.

A form of socialism that rejects complete social ownership of all non-human resources (you can
own your own home and toothbrush), but which does advocate labour unions and the
nationalization of all heavy industry is: (a) Utopian socialism. (b) Fabian socialism. (c) Christian
socialism. (d) industrial socialism. (e) imperial socialism.

100.

A centerpiece of Fabian socialism was advocacy of the: (a) abolition of slavery. (b)
nationalization of most heavy industry. (c) revolution of the proletariat. (d) abolition of
inheritance in all its forms. (e) legalization of most psychoactive pharmaceuticals.

101.

Among the Fabian Societys goals was: (a) nationalization of heavy industry. (b) elimination of the
service sector. (c) a TV series for a 1950s rock and roll star. (d) expansion of the British Empire.

102.

The Fabian Socialists would most likely support: (a) the iron fist rule of Pol Pot and the Khmer
Rogue. (b) the centralization and industrialization of Lenin and the Bolsheviks. (c) the radical
Maoist Revolution. (d) the deft state propaganda of Fidel Castro.

103.

Fabian socialists advocated the nationalization of: (a) labor unions. (b) toll roads. (c) heavy
industry. (d) television and radio. (e) agricultural markets.

104.

Jeremy Benthams credo the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people was most
explicitly central to the objectives of: (a) George Stigler. (b) the Fabian society. (c) institutionalists.
(d) Gordon Tulloch and other public choice economists.

105.

Beatrice and Sidney Webb, a married couple, were: (a) egalitarian philosophers who coauthored The
Subjugation of Women. (b) Christian socialists who wrote Religion and the Rise of Capitalism. (c)
Marxists who described exploitation mathematically in their coauthored On the Condition of Labor.
(d) Fabian socialists who coauthored History of Trade Unionism.

106.

A major success achieved by the Fabian Socialists in England during the end of the 19th and
beginning of the 20th centuries was: (a) legislation protecting the working class by aiding unions,
limiting work hours and the like. (b) the removal of limits on inheritances. (c) legislation making it
easier to import labor from poorer countries to fill vacant jobs. (d) nationalization of all British
industry.

107.

In Work and Wealth, John Hobson argued for government intervention to: (a) take over all large
industry. (b) cease immediately. (c) provide for a more equitable distribution of income. (d) lower
inflation.

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108.

Render unto Caesar that which is Caesars, and unto God that which is Gods. (Matthew
22:21). This passage: (a) is frequently cited by conservative theologians who believe in
preserving existing distributions of income, wealth, status, and power. (b) was quoted by
Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus in a famous sermon to the House of Commons. (c) is often
cited by Christian Socialists who believe in redistributing income, wealth, status, and power. (d)
was used by mercantilists to justify the accumulation of gold.

109.

Christian socialism could be described as Christianity plus: (a)Utopian socialism plus central
control of heavy industry and public works. (b) Fabian socialism plus crusades to propagate the
ideas of medieval scholastics. (c) evolutionary socialism plus labor unions and charity and social
reform. (d) capitalism plus the proletariat. (e) Marxism plus Robert Owens vision of Utopia.

110.

Pope Leo XIII was a proponent of: (a) pure socialism. (b) orthodox Marxism. (c) laissez faire
capitalism. (d) a mixture of socialism and capitalism.

111.

The dignity of work and the virtues of unionization are most central to: (a) Utopian socialism. (b)
Christian socialism. (c) Marxist socialism. (d) Fabian socialism.

112.

Christian socialism as expressed by Pope John Paul II in the 1960s and 1970s was most
antagonistic towards the violence that emanated from: (a) labor unions. (b) liberation theology. (c)
social welfare programs. (d) the ecumenical movement.

113.

An offshoot of Christian Socialism which took hold in parts of Central and South America is: (a)
the contra movement. (b) liberation theology. (c) Sandinistaism. (d) Fabian socialism.

114.

The radical revolutionary movement led largely by Catholic priests in politically tumultuous
developing regions such as Central America and Haiti that blends aspects of Christianity and
Marxism is: (a) Christian socialism. (b) Christian Marxism. (c) liberation theology. (d) neoscholasticism.

115.

Liberation theology is advocated by many revolutionary South American priests, and blends the
ideas of: (a)Utopianism and creationism. (b) syndicalism and Titoism. (c) Marxism and Christian
socialism. (d) anarchism and revisionism.

116.

Liberation theology blends the ideas of: (a) Buddhism and Hinduism. (b) capitalism and
socialism. (c) anarchism and syndicalism. (d) Utopian and Fabian socialism. (e) Marxism and
Christian socialism.

117.

The blend of Marxism and Christian socialism advocated by many revolutionary priests in South
America is known as: (a) Utopianism. (b) creationism. (c) liberation theology. (d) revisionism.

118.

Internal contradictions are most obvious between the ideas of: (a) Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
(b) central planning and anarcho-syndicalism. (c) Mohandas Gandhi and Buddhist economics. (d)
Christian socialism and Utopianism.

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119.

Several economic philosophies are aimed at ameliorating or optimally resolving the problem of
scarcity, but scarcity is perceived as potentially completely eliminated only in the: (a) final stages of
communism predicted by Karl Marx. (b) transition from feudalism to heaven as envisioned by
medieval scholastics. (c) syndicalist system of worker ownership and collective management. (d)
end state of Nirvana per Hinduism, or via the version of Buddhist economics that exhorts people
to be completely satisfied with things readily available. (e) steady state equilibrium predicted by the
classical liberals.

120.

The doctrines of Mohandas Gandhi and Buddhist economics do not include advocacy of: (a)
self-sufficiency. (b) industrialization as a way to foster social well-being. (c) curbing material
want as the key for successfully dealing with scarcity. (d) charity for the least fortunate among
us. (e) deemphasizing materialism as a path to the good life.

121.

Scarcity is chronic and incurable if scarcity exists because our limited resources and technologies
cannot produce sufficient goods to fully satisfy our unlimited wants. Thinkers who viewed
scarcity as potentially resolved by curbing our appetites for material goods included: (a) Jeremy
Bentham. (b) Mohandas Gandhi. (c) Abu Hamid al-Ghazali. (d) Xenophon. (e) Ibn Khaldun.

122.

Least compatible with the other three items would be: (a) Fabian socialism. (b) small is beautiful.
(c) Mohandas Gandhi. (d) limits to growth.

123.

Economic decision-making would be most centralized under: (a) a command economy. (b) Utopian
socialism. (c) syndicalism. (d) laissez faire capitalism.

124.

A social theory that does not advocate the ultimate minimization or elimination of an economic role
for government is: (a) Marxism. (b) laissez faire capitalism. (c) syndicalism. (d) central planning. (e)
Utopian socialism.

125.

John Stuart Mill is usually categorized as a classical liberal because he opposed income taxes as
embodying strong disincentive effects and feared that government policies aimed at yielding
equality of result might squelch production. However, Mill favored equality of opportunity and
believed that this could be accomplished by supporting public education with inheritance taxes.
Despite their heavy reliance on income taxes, Mill would likely have been favorably impressed by
the political freedom and the combination of a generous social safety net with private business
decisionmaking and ownership of land and capital that characterizes: (a) all nations belonging to the
European Union (b) Utopian communes. (c) socialist economies in South Asia. (d) syndicalist
societies. (e) Scandinavian welfare states.

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OLD Questions for Comparative Economic Systems

1.

A basic difference between a market and command economy would be that: (a) market prices only
exist in a command economy. (b) consumer choice does not exist in a command economy. (c) prices
both ration and guide in a market economy, but are not a major guiding device in the command
economy. (d) government plays no role in a market economy.

2.

Central planning to try to resolve major economic questions is most common in: (a) command
economies. (b) syndicalist economies. (c) market economies. (d) Scandinavian welfare states.

3.

Central planning: (a) is the goal of syndicalist theory. (b) depends on appropriate market prices for
efficiency. (c) involves establishing detailed production targets for all sectors of the economy. (d)
leaves resource allocation to the market system while the central government controls the money
supply and the political process.

4.

In a command economy: (a) income does not yield wealth. (b) price does not serve the guiding
function. (c) consumer market choice is nonexistent. (d) producer output choice is nonexistent.

5.

Command economies: (a) use central planning to resolve major economic questions. (b) rely upon
markets in their attempts to resolve scarcity. (c) tend to be just as efficient as market economies. (d)
seldom experience shortages of outputs or inputs. (e) are synonymous with socialism.

6.

The most complete system of central planning was instituted in: (a) Yugoslavia under Marshall Tito.
(b) Sweden under democratic socialism. (c) the USSR under communism. (d) Imperial Russia. (e)
France under De Gaulle.

7.

The central planning agency of the Soviet Union was known as: (a) Kholkhoz. (b) GUM. (c)
Gosplan. (d) Samovar. (e) Gulag.

8.

Soviet economic strategy from the 1930s through the 1950s shifted capacity from: (a) producer
goods to consumer goods to promote growth of capacity. (b) producer goods to consumer goods to
raise living standards. (c) consumer goods to producer goods to promote growth. (d) consumer
goods to producer goods to immediately raise living standards.

9.

In comparing growth experiences in the light of recently revised estimates, US growth apparently
failed to exceed that of the Soviet Union from: (a) 1929 to 1938. (b) 1953 to 1965. (c) 1965 to 1990.
(d) 1913 through 1965.

10.

Soviet economic development during 1929-1965 was based on: (a) agriculture as the leading
sector. (b) a very high ratio of investment to national income. (c) balanced growth emphasizing
consumer goods. (d) laissez faire policies.

11.

After realistic statistics came to light when the USSR collapsed, comparisons of Soviet and U.S.
growth rates in total output during 1929-1965 revealed that the: (a) Soviet Union usually grew more
rapidly than the US. (b) U.S. usually grew more rapidly than the Soviet Union. (c) the two countries
grew at about the same rate. (d) investment was higher in the US, but consumption was higher in the
Soviet Union.

12.

Central planning was largely abandoned when the USSR devolved into fifteen independent
countries and numerous communist regimes in Eastern Europe were overthrown during the: (a) late
1980s and early 1990s. (b) Crimean War. (c) last days of the reign of Nicolas and Alexandra. (d)
closing years of World War II.
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13.

The hypothesis that capitalist countries will become increasingly socialistic, while socialistic
countries will rely more heavily on market forces, is known as: (a) dialectical materialism. (b)
indicative planning. (c) the Marxian ideal. (d) the convergence hypothesis. (e) small is beautiful.

14.

The idea that capitalist and socialist economies will become increasingly similar over time is central
to: (a) Buddhist economics. (b) indicative planning. (c) anarcho-syndicalist thought. (d) the
convergence hypothesis.

15.

Examples from the 1970s supporting the convergence hypothesis would include: (a) growth of USUSSR cultural exchange programs. (b) spreading price incentives in the Soviet command economy.
(c) price-wage controls in the US market economy. (d) All of the above.

16.

According to the convergence hypothesis, socialism: (a) leads to an optimal growth path through
trial and error. (b) and capitalist economies will become more similar over time. (c) cannot survive
without an underground economy. (d) will merge into communism as the state withers away.

17.

Economies that have LEAST noticeably moved towards greater reliance on market forces since the
1980s would include: (a) China. (b) the United States. (c) the former Soviet Union. (d) North Korea
and Cuba.

18.

The society once most intent on molding human nature away from individualistic greed was: (a)
Yugoslavia under Tito. (b) China under Mao Zedong. (c) France under Louis XVI. (d) Soviet Russia
under Stalin. (e) Sweden under King Gustav V.

19.

From the time Stalin died until the Soviet Union evaporated, economic reform in the Soviet Union
was most evident in the: (a) political sphere. (b) full convertibility of the ruble. (c) agricultural sector.
(d) privatizing of heavy industry.

20.

The USSRs central planning agency was called: (a) Pravda. (b) Iskra. (c) Gosplan. (d) Utopia.

21.

Though central planning appears to be inherently inefficient, Soviet economic growth reportedly
exceeded that of the US during 1929-1965 partially because: (a) Soviet worker productivity wais
much higher than US worker productivity. (b) children were forced to work at young ages in the
Soviet Union. (c) Soviet technological and scientific schools were more modern than those in the
United States. (d) much production was allocated for investment in heavy machinery. (e) the USSRs
official statistics were almost as exaggerated during 1929-1965 as those of Enron and WorldCom in
the US during the 1990-2002.

22.

From the mid-1980s, the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union respectively moved
towards greater reliance on market incentives under: (a) Deng Xiao Peng (China), Mikhail
Gorbachev (USSR) and Boris Yeltsin (Russia). (b) Mao Zedong (China) and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
(USSR). (c) Chiang Kaichek (China) and Yuri Gagarin (USSR). (d) the Fu dynasty (China) and
Alexander Stolypin (Russia). (e) Sun Yat-sen (China) and Leon Trotsky (USSR).

23.

The society recently most intent on molding human nature away from individualistic greed has
been: (a) Yugoslavia under Tito. (b) China under Mao. (c) the USSR under Gorbachev. (d) Sweden
under King Gustav XI.

24.

Mao Zedong attempted to mold a New Economic Man in China by: (a) intensive training in
modern technology. (b) effective democratic rule. (c) decentralized communal decision making and
central economic planning. (d) emphasizing nonmaterial incentives.

14

25.

When Deng Xiao Ping succeeded Mao Zedong, China: (a) increasingly relied on market incentives.
(b) allied more closely with Russia and South Korea. (c) continued to adhere to most Maoist
principles. (d) attempted to mold a New Economic Man with nonmaterial incentives.

26.

A recent powerful trend away from rigid central planning is most noticeable in: (a) Communist
China. (b) Sweden. (c) France. (d) the British Empire.

27.

In Sweden: (a) per capita income is now below the level of 1932. (b) worker productivity is
extremely low. (c) taxes absorb more than 50 percent of National Income. (d) property taxes are the
major source of government revenues. (e) worker syndicates manage over 90 percent of all
enterprises.

28.

In Sweden: (a) productive inputs are largely socially owned. (b) per capita income is relatively high.
(c) worker productivity is very low. (d) government and the welfare system absorb all of GDP. (e)
recent tax cuts have increased investment.

29.

Land and capital are largely privately-owned but taxes absorb roughly half of income in most: (a)
socialist economies. (b) Scandinavian welfare states. (c) Utopian communes. (d) syndicalist societies.

30.

Taxes that absorb roughly half of resource income to support a massive welfare state are imposed
in: (a) Yugoslavia. (b) England. (c) Sweden. (d) Japan.

31.

In the Swedish welfare state: (a) productive resources are largely privately owned. (b) high tax
rates are responsible for low labor productivity. (c) there are frequent conflicts between labor and
management. (d) workers own and manage many factories.

32.

Most production occurs in private firms but tax rates and welfare payments are significantly higher
than the world average in: (a) Sweden. (b) Cuba under Castro. (c) Tierra del Fuego. (d) Japan.

33.

Widespread pollution and the movement away from the cowboy economy to a spaceship earth
economy have led to calls for: (a) central planning. (b) limits to growth. (c) Marxist economics. (d)
indicative planning.

34.

Syndicalist ideas are most associated with the economy of: (a) France under De Gaulle. (b) the
USSR under Stalin. (c) Yugoslavia under Tito. (d) Sweden under King Gustav V.

35.

Indicative planning was most important in France prior to its joining the European Union and in: (a)
19th century Sweden. (b) Yugoslavia under Tito. (c) 20th century Australia. (d) Saskatchewan.

36.

Formal indicative planning was most important during the 1970s in: (a) Sweden and England. (b)
France and Yugoslavia. (c) China and the USSR. (d) Japan and the United States.

37.

A major dimension of Yugoslavian economic life under Marshall Tito from the 1950s through the
1980s would have been: (a) private ownership of all land and capital. (b) rigid central planning in
industry. (c) substantial control over enterprise decisions by worker councils. (d) a labor hour plan
for determining all prices.

38.

The French system of indicative planning through the 1970s: (a) was largely a laissez faire public
enterprise economy. (b) was characterized by severe cyclical fluctuations between 1950 and 1975. (c)
involved deliberate attempts to avoid economic bottlenecks. (d) focused only on nationalized
industries.

15

39.

The economy of Yugoslavia during 1950-1985: (a) combined Soviet-style central planning and
workers management councils. (b) frequently relied on price controls and indicative planning. (c)
generally adopted economic policies based on the Marxist ideal. (d) experienced steady and rapid
economic growth after Tito came to power.

40.

Least related to the other three items would be: (a) International Workers of the World. (b) modern
Yugoslavia. (c) worker management. (d) libertarianism.

41.

High tax rates in Britain during 1950-1980: (a) exceeded those in Sweden. (b) generated consistent
and rapid economic growth. (c) were blamed for failures to modernize British industry. (d)
encouraged saving but discouraged investment.

42.

NOT among reasons commonly cited for the economic decline of Britain during 1950-1980 would
be: (a) erratic policies that disrupted economic growth. (b) militant unionism. (c) the size and expense
of the British welfare state. (d) the emergence of punk rock.

16