Economic Inequality

Question 1

Capital Definition

Answer 1

The resources we use to ger things we want and need

Question 2

The economy is an institution that is closely connected to _______

Answer 2

social class

Question 3

What is economic capital?

Answer 3

Financial resources

Question 4

Income vs wealth

Answer 4

Income: Steady sources of money

Wealth: Money sitting in the bank

Question 5

How is the financial well-being of Americans measured? (3)

Answer 5

1. Median
2. Mean
3. Mode

Question 6

What does economic inequality look like?

Answer 6

When wealth is distributed unevenly

Question 7

How is the economy structured (e.g., who does it advantage or disadvantage?)?

Answer 7

Advantage: the economic elite
Disadvantaged: bottom 50% (ie. poor)

Question 8

What is the economic elite?

Answer 8

Minority of ppl who control high amt of wealth

Question 9

Explain caste systems.

Answer 9

Ppl remain in the layer of society they were born into

Question 10

Explain feudal systems.

Answer 10

Rich/powerful indv born into nobility; reigned over a peasant class

Question 11

Explan the enslavement system.

Answer 11

Econ elite allowed to own a class of humans and exploit them for labor

Question 12

What is social mobility?

Answer 12

Opportunity to move up or down in the economic hierarchy

Question 13

Wage

Answer 13

Cash payments given to workers in exchange for labor

Question 14

What is capitalism?

Answer 14

Private ownership of resources used to create wealth

Question 15

Proletariat vs bourgeoise?

Answer 15

Proletariat: Working class
Bourgeoisie: Those who employ working class

Question 16

Means of Production def

Answer 16

resources that can be used to create wealth

Question 17

Labor

Answer 17

The work people can do with bodies/minds

Question 18

Alienation

Answer 18

Feeling of dissatisfaction and disconnection from one’s labor

Question 19

How do sociologists (i.e. Marx) examine the economy?

Answer 19

Shift to wage labor changed the relationship they had to their work;

Interests between proletariat and bourgeoisie changed:
- proletariat: higher wages, flexibility
- bourgeoisie: more profits; less pay

Question 20

What is a crisis of capitalism?

Answer 20

A coming catastrophic implosion from which capitalism would never recover.

Question 21

What is class consciousness?

Answer 21

awareness of one’s place in a system of social classes

Question 22

What is socialism?

Answer 22

Shared ownership of the resources used to create wealth; distributed by gov

Question 23

What is free market capitalism?

Answer 23

Capitalism with little or no gov regulation

Question 24

What are labpr unions?

Answer 24

Association of workers so they can negotiate w/ employers as a group

Question 25

Social safety net

Answer 25

Patchwork of programs intended to help the most economically vulnerable (food, clothing, selther) THINK: New Deal (1933-1936)

Question 26

Living wage vs Working Poor

Answer 26

income that allows workers to afford basic needs vs earning poverty-level wages

Question 27

What did free market capitalism eventually become?

Answer 27

**Welfare capitalism**: capitalist system with some socialist policy to distribute profits more evenly

Question 28

What are contradictory class locations?

Answer 28

Positions in econ that resemble the proletariat and in other ways the bourgeoise

Question 29

Service and information economy

Answer 29

Economy centered on jobs in which workers provide services or work with information.

Question 30

Precariat

Answer 30

New class of workers who live economically precarious lives

Question 31

Protestant work ethic

Answer 31

one's character should be measured by one's dedication to paid work

Question 32

Glass ceiling vs floor

Answer 32

Ceiling: restricts upward mobility Floor: restricts downward mobility

Question 33

Colorism

Answer 33

discrimination toward people with dark skin compared to those with light skin