Amanda Bailey

Joe Howell

Economics 1740

18 April 2017

Free or Equal Questions

1. If the government gives everybody the same freedom to work and reap the rewards, some
will do better than others. The result will be equality of opportunity, but not equality of outcome.

2. Immigrants who arrived in the late 1800s/early-1900s found that America was truly a land of
opportunity. Describe the factors these immigrants encountered which helped them thrive.

Factors: Hope, talent, hard work, opportunity, few rules and regulations, (No permits,
licenses, red tape to restrict them.) free market, no tax rates.

3. Describe how Hong Kong transformed from a refugee camp with millions of extremely poor
people to an economic powerhouse.

Hong Kong: This country went from no prospects and no natural resources, and little land that
could be cultivated. Almost by accident, it was given economic freedom. The British government
did not care about Hong Kong affairs, but the governor of Hong Kong favored free markets.
They never introduced policies like regulations and tariffs, or government intervention in the
economy, so it thrived in a more natural way. The free market enables people to go into any
industry to trade with whomever and buy in the cheapest market, and sell in the busiest. The
atmosphere of incentive induced them to work, save, and produce a miracle.

4. Explain voluntary association & why it is essential in a free market.

Voluntary Association is what we do together for our own free will. It is anything going on
between two consenting adults. Self interest could produce an orderly society benefiting
everyone. It tells producers what/how to best produce things through another set of prices; cost
of materials, wages of labor, etc.

5. Explain how the lead pencil & the smartphone are examples of invisible hands.

Invisible Hands are a complex interaction between thousands of people. To make your life
better, you have to better the lives of others. Not one pencil is alike. It comes from cut down
trees, which come from saws, which come from steel, which come from the people who make
iron ore. Not a single person can make a cell phone. Its parts come from all around the world.
For example, the display is made in Japan, the camera in Vietnam, the microphone in Austria,
the chip in France, the memory in Korea, and the battery in China.

6. Which technology did more to give the average person power? Explain how this technology
was both creative and destructive.

Creative & Destructive: It is creative when only flexible and adaptable to survive. It makes other
business fail. It is also creative when there are new goods, and when the world is innovating in a
better and faster way. Its destructive when old companies cannot compete. People then lose
their jobs, and factories shut down. The demand drops. An example of this would be landlines
versus cellphones,

7. Johan Norberg describes how his home country of Sweden taxes heavily and then
redistributes wealth. Describe the benefits and drawbacks that this approach has on the
Swedish population.

Benefits: People can compete freely with no regulations, licenses, and tariffs. Its a generous
benefit system. It allows for more spending,
Drawbacks: It requires the freedom of some to be restricted, in order to provide the greater
benefits to others. Some people compete freely. Some are successful and gain wealth while
some lose and lag behind. Heavy taxes reduced rewards for working hard and taking risks. Not
had the policies that encourage people to start the new businesses that may become very
successful. On Welfare- those who dont work and get checks from the government. The
unemployment rate is higher than 50%

8. Explain how Free markets regularly turn luxuries into consumer goods.

Consumer Goods: You dont have to work as many hours to afford things. IE; In 1920, you had
to work 37 minutes to afford half a gallon of milk, whereas today you wouldnt have to work
more than 7 minutes to afford this. When people are free, they are able to use their own
resources most effectively and youll have a great deal of productivity and opportunity. The
major beneficiaries are always the small man.

9. As Milton Friedman said, The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with
neither. The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both..

10. A. Would you approve of using the Equality of Outcome method in calculating your final
grade? Why or Why not?
B. What are the pros & cons in using this method?

A: No, because it doesnt give room for anyone to excel in their education. If we all got Cs it
would affect the GPA negatively for those who regard their average as extremely important. It
doesnt help students gain motivation to expand their brain capacity and learn new things that
would help them in their life.
B. Pros- Gives procrastinators and lazy individuals unwilling to work actual benefit.

Cons- It doesnt encourage people to become successful or try to show their own integrity
and creativity. Its not worth the effort or thought to manifest themselves individually.

11. A: Would you approve of using the Equality of Outcome method in calculating your salary?
Why or why not?
B: What are the pros & cons in using this method?

A: I would not approve of using the Equality of Outcome method in calculating my salary. I feel
that in our worlds workplace this rule deflates the levels in which one grows in a company and
also diminishes individual effort and essentially work, especially knowing that such efforts are
rewarded to those who maybe dont have the same skillset or work ethic that another worker
does have.

B: Pros- All are brought to a level of equality and feelings of fairness can be felt by all.
Competitiveness and jealousy are eliminated knowing that you arent penalized by lower reward
for not having a more valuable skillset than others.

Cons- Individuals see no justification or reason to perform efficiently or better than others
because they are rewarded all the same. Because performance is not being measured in any
degree or in any specific form, there is no improvement from anyone.

Reflective Writing:

This assignment helped me achieve many of the SLCC learning outcomes, but the top
two that I thought I accomplished the most were: thinking critically and creatively, and
Developing knowledge & skills to be civically engaged. This class in general has made me think
outside the box. I honestly, have never been too interested in economics. I thought it was only
about money and how money affects people in good and bad ways. Although, peeking into
economics from a historical point of view made me appreciate this class. I am a huge history
buff, so this class helped me widen my knowledge. This particular assignment, made me really
think creatively. I came to realize that peoples perceptions of opportunity, hope, wealth,
and hard work affect our economy immensely. If people did not have the right mindset and the
want to excel in life, our economy would be in the dumps, and there would be no way for us to
prevail. I have been able to apply the video for this assignment into my writing and express my
creative expression throughout this paper.
The second learning outcome that I felt I had acquired was being able to develop civic
literacy. I feel like not only this assignment, but this class as a whole has allowed me to
understand the political, historical, and especially the economic aspects of social change. I have
been able to think critically about our nations economics and weigh the evidence surrounding
our national (economic) issues.