Economic concepts and fallacies
What is opportunity cost? Give an example.
What you lose out on when choosing one alternate over another
Every student in a class receives the same grade, regardless of their effort or performance.
Strict Egalitarianism
What is a traditional economy?
Economy in which decisions are guided by customs and traditions.
Imagine a city in which all of the factories and delivery systems are owned by the government. The government decides what is made and who gets what. What form of economy is this?
Command Economy.
Which political system is characterized by private ownership of the means of production, free markets, and limited government intervention?
Capitalism
Which fallacy?
"If I save more money, I will be wealthier; therefore, if everyone saves more money, the entire economy will be wealthier."
Fallacy of Composition
If businesses didn't have to pay taxes (no redistribution of wealth)
Libertarian principles
What is a command economy?
All economic decisions are made by the government, government controls production and distribution.
Private businesses like grocery stores operate alongside government-run services like healthcare. The government also regulates industries and provides social programs.
Mixed economy.
In which political system does the government own and control major industries, with the goal of reducing inequality and providing basic needs? Private ownership is allowed, but taxes are high.
Socialism
Which fallacy?
"After the government lowered interest rates, the economy improved; therefore, lowering interest rates caused the economic recovery."
Single causation
Employees receive bonuses based on their sales performance; those who sell more earn higher bonuses
Desert-Based Distribution (Meritocracy
What is a market economy?
A market economy is one guided by the laws of supply and demand.
Imagine a world in which everyone gets by with only what they need. People adhere to the customs and teachings of the generations before them to guide their decisions. What is this economy?
Traditional Economy
Which system advocates for a classless society where all property is collectively owned and there is no state?
Communism
Which fallacy?
Increased tariffs have resulting in increased prices of many goods in Canada.
No fallacy!
A government imposes a progressive tax system to fund social programs that benefit the majority of citizens
Welfare-Based Principles (Utilitarianism)
What is a mixed economy?
Based on supply and demand with some government involvement.
Sellers freely offer goods at prices determined by what buyers are willing to pay. What they produce is driven by supply and demand. There are no taxes.
Market economy.
Difference between Socialism and Communism?
Socialism: Allows for private property and market activity within a framework of government regulation, progressive taxation and social welfare programs.
Communism: Seeks to abolish private property entirely and establish collective ownership of all resources, ideally leading to a stateless and classless society (though, in practice, communist states have been highly authoritarian).
What's the difference between a positive and a normative statement? Give an example of each
Positive statements are objective, factual claims about how the world is, and can be tested with evidence, ex "Increasing the minimum wage will cause some businesses to reduce their staff."
Normative statements are subjective opinions about how the world should be ex) "The government should increase welfare benefits to reduce poverty."
A city implements a program to provide job training and placement assistance specifically for unemployed individuals in low-income neighborhoods.
Difference Principle or Luck Egalitarianism
What is Canada and why?
Canada is a mixed economy because entrepreneurship and private ownership and allowed and encouraged, but wealth is redistributed through progressive taxation and government controls some industries, such as utlities
Benefits of a mixed economy?
answers may vary
Preserves class structures and private property, but with heavy state control and often suppresses workers' rights. It promotes nationalism and a strong, centralized authority.
Facism