Final Exam (2003)
Answer three questions based upon the class readings. They all have equal weight. Please write the numbers of the question you are answering on the front of your bluebooks.
- Define the Industrial Revolution and the Demographic Transition. Show how they related to each other in Britain.
- Gerschenkron emphasized the interaction of politics and economics in economic growth. Summarize his ideas and provide examples or counter-examples for his theory.
- Describe the Second Industrial Revolution and discuss its implications for the labor force.
- What lessons would you draw from the Great Depression for today (as opposed to those in Lessons, which was written in the 1980s)?
- African-American households today are likely to have lower income, be in worse health, and be less educated than white households. How are these conditions related, if at all, to the legacy of slavery?
- Discuss trends in American wage inequality and the causes of these trends. Why might we want to consider other dimensions of well-being than income? How would broadening your view of well-being change your view of trends in inequality?