Unit 1

Question 1

What would be some historical reasons (e.g., past court cases) why the Onondaga Nation would not have pursued a lawsuit over stolen lands in the 19th or early 20th centuries?

Answer 1

Johnson & Graham’s Lessee v. McIntosh (1823)
Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock (1903)
(claimed too much time has past)

Question 2

Plaintiff

Answer 2

a person who brings a case against another in a court of law

Question 3

Defendant

Answer 3

an individual, company, or institution sued or accused in a court of law

Question 4

What right exists for a defendant or plaintiff who has lost a suit in court?

Answer 4

Right to appeal to a higher court (but must convince the next level court)

Question 5

In the U.S. federal court system, how does one get a case to be heard by the Supreme Court? Are there multiple levels of courts?

Answer 5

Typically, the Court hears cases that have been decided in either an appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals or the highest Court in a given state
Yes there are multiple levels of courts
94 District Courts (trial courts), 13 Courts of Appeals (intermediate appellate courts), and the United States Supreme Court (the court of final review).

Question 6

Under what circumstances was the Star-Spangled Banner written? Was it intended to be a national anthem? How did it become the national anthem? What are its musical origins?

Answer 6

• Key wrote the words during the British bombardment of Fort McHenry at Baltimore
• The lyrics were intended to be sung to a song called “To Anacreon in Heaven”
• President Woodrow Wilson adopted the song as a de facto “national anthem” in 1916 but did not codify this ruling.
• Key assigned to accompany the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was a popular English drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven.” Written around 1775 by John Stafford Smith, the song honored the ancient Greek poet Anacreon, a lover of wine

Question 7

What is problematic about the third verse of the Star-Spangled Banner that probably accounts for it rarely even being sung? What is the third verse about?

Answer 7

Key had a special message for the enslaved people who had dared to fight for freedom

Question 8

What is the definition of inflation? Can you recognize inflation if given statistics about prices (as opposed to simple rises in prices of individual items)? What does it actually mean to say that “the inflation rate is x%”?

Answer 8

the value of the dollar decreases
the average cost of living increases

Question 9

How serious a problem has inflation been over the past 75 years? Has it been a regular and frequent occurrence? Approximately how frequently? Why would Americans today be upset about 8.5% inflation?

Answer 9

Over the past 100 years the inflation rate has rarely risen above 5% with the exception of the 1970s
They would be upset because when the rate of inflation rises rapidly, it can result in lower purchasing power, higher interest rates, slower economic growth and other negative economic effects.

Question 10

What is the CPI and what is its relationship to inflation?

Answer 10

Consumer price index- cost of everything
The percentage change in CPI over a period of time is referred to as the inflation rate

Question 11

When and whom does inflation hurt (i.e., difference between price inflation and wage inflation)?

Answer 11

Price inflation and wage inflation does not necessary mean there is inflation. Wage inflation refers to ??

Question 12

What are the different types of inflation?

Answer 12

Cosh-push
Demand-pull

Question 13

Demand-pull

Answer 13

demand for goods outpaces supply chain growth, pulling up prices (occurs when greater demand but hard to keep up)

Question 14

Cost-push

Answer 14

when the supply of goods or services fails to meet existing demand, thereby pushing prices up

Question 15

What is the Federal Reserve system? Has it been in existence for the entirety of U.S. history? If not, how long has it been around?

Answer 15

• System of bank that serves as the “lender of last resort” for all other banks in US
• Correctly determines “money supply” and “reserve requirements”
• 1913

Question 16

What tools does the Federal Reserve have to combat inflation and how can they be used (e.g., reserve requirement, interest rates)?

Answer 16

Reserve requirements- how much (%) each bank must hold in reserve and not led out
Interest rates- % you need to pay back when take out money

Question 17

To what extent, if any, can the U.S. president influence the actions of the FED?

Answer 17

The president appoints members of the FED and the have a 14 year term so it is not likely that the President will influence the action of the FED

Question 18

Historically, how has inflation affected the political fate of U.S. presidents (particularly Truman, Ford, and Carter)?

Answer 18

Truman - democrats lose control as a result of inflation (even when not directly involved)
(find out about other presidents)

Question 19

What was the Bretton Woods Agreement, and how did its demise (end) affect inflation during the administration of Richard Nixon? What actions did Nixon take to disengage from Bretton Woods and to deal with the resulting effects?

Answer 19

Bretton Woods Agreement- international currency exchange regime based on the U.S. dollar and gold.
It made inflation worse?
Price controls?

Question 20

What was likely the principal cause of the “Great Inflation” of the 1970s?

Answer 20

Gas crisis of the 1970s

Question 21

What was unusual about the inflation of the 1970s that was not consistent with the way economies usually behave during periods of inflation?

Answer 21

It was unusual that there was high unemployment

Question 22

What proposals were made by Ronald Reagan as part of what became known as “Reaganomics”? What did Reagan and supporters claim would happen if these proposals were implemented? To what extent does what actually happened support or refute Reagan’s claims?

Answer 22

Cut taxes, cut government spending, more money for military, and balance the budget was proposed
They claimed that inflation would go down.
The inflation rate did go down but government spending increases and FED budget goes down a little

Question 23

What is “supply-side economics” and with which political party is it usually identified?

Answer 23

• Tax cuts for the wealthiest
• Republican party

Question 24

What has been the trend in income and wealth inequality in the U.S. over the past 40 years? The past 100 years?

Answer 24

Income inequality has grown in the US since Reagan