Economics S e to n Home Study School Lesson Plan Answer Keys Tests Quarter Report Forms Course Manual ELE404_15B
It is important to note why socialism was condemned. Pope Leo XIII wrote that man has a natural right to private property, and economic systems that deny this right are antithetical to the nature of man. Most state-imposed limitations on wealth are unjust. Distributism, an economic school of thought that gained some popularity with the writings of Hilaire Belloc, unfortunately flirts with socialism. Answer Consider 12.4 questions orally. WEEK SIXTEEN Review Chapter 12. Do the Chapter 12 Review. Answer in your notebook or on the computer the Chapter Review questions. Only the Define, Identify, and Explain sections need to be graded. This grade is put in Section A of the Quarter Report Form. Day 3 Review Chapters 10, 11, and 12. Day 4 Review Chapters 10, 11, and 12. Section Review for Chapter 12 The questions and answers for this section review will help the student to prepare for the tests. Content can be from the chapter in the text book, or from the Lesson Plan associated with that chapter. Please don t forget to review the articles in the Lesson Plan. 1. Describe welfare capitalism or managed capitalism. 2. What is the economic contribution of Karl Marx? What book did he write? Day 5 Take Test 5 on Chapters 10, 11, and 12 when you are ready. Send this test to Seton for grading. Check to see if this test is also available online on the Seton web site. WEEK SEVENTEEN Chapter 13: A Look at the Global Economy. Skim read the subheadings, look at the pictures. Read, study The Growth of the Global Economy, pp. 206 to 209. Answer the Consider 13.1 questions orally. Read, study Global Issues in Perspective, pp. 210 to 218. ELE404_15B ECONOMICS 12/15/2015 PAGE 27
Day 3 Answer the Consider 13.2 questions orally. As with other aspects of economics, the subject of trade has moral implications that are, unfortunately, rarely considered. It is frustrating that so often when Catholics discuss the topic of trade, they ignore so much profound thought of Catholic thinkers throughout the ages. Regarding trade, we can summarize the position of the greatest minds of the Church on the subject by pointing out three things. First, international trade is a good and was ordained by God; second, trade is vital to the survival of the state; and; third, the effort to restrict trade may be a sin against charity. At the time these conclusions were reached by these Catholic thinkers, there was not the current situation where we have governments, such as the government of China, which, as a matter of government policy, routinely murders unborn babies by forced abortions. Catholics today must struggle with the problem of not trading with nations which have a policy of gigantic proportions of evil, or of trading with such nations to help the poor and oppressed who are literally slaves. To add to the problem, these government slaves produce goods which are sold to other nations at slave-labor prices, so that their products consistently are greatly underpriced in comparison with free-market goods, goods produced by hard-working parents who need to be paid a just wage to provide for their families. Another concern with free trade with China is the likelihood that China, an enemy of democracy and American values, will be learning certain technological secrets from the U.S. In De Regno, St. Thomas Aquinas writes that entirely self-sufficient communities are impossible: One cannot easily find any place so overflowing with the necessaries as not to need some commodities from other parts. When there is an overabundance of some commodities in one place, these goods would serve no purpose if they could not be carried elsewhere by professional traders. Consequently, the perfect city will make a moderate use of merchants. St. Bonaventure, the great Franciscan Doctor of the Church, argued that international trade must be moral because without trade, many regions could not exist. To use an example to illustrate what St. Bonaventure is saying, it is an established scientific fact that some fruits grow only in some areas. If you live in Cleveland, you simply cannot entertain good hope of growing bananas in your back yard. You don t see many orange trees in Detroit. Similarly, Virginia seems to be a great place to grow apples, and New Jersey seems to be a great place to grow delicious tomatoes. Trade is needed between states and countries because some climates and people are better at producing certain things than another. To use another example, let s say that your city or town decided to halt all trade under penalty of law. Nothing comes in (imports), and nothing goes out (exports). What will happen? Within a few days, the shelves will be empty. Housing prices will go to practically zero because nearly everyone would emigrate. Medicine will be in short supply. Unless it is produced in your town, there will be no goods. Further, the prices on those things that are produced in your town will go to almost zero, since the supply will immediately outweigh the demand, since the demand has been cut off. Ultimately, the people that are left in town will starve. Trade is desperately needed. PAGE 28 ECONOMICS 12/15/2015 ELE404_15B
A late scholastic named Vitoria claimed that eternal law and natural law favored international trade. He wrote that to restrict the goods of an area from being supplied to another was not only economically unsound, but actually claimed that it was iniquitous and against charity. Therefore, other things being equal [which of course is not true in our current society], we see that free trade is not only the best economic policy, it is also what God ordained. Day 4 Review the chapter. Do the Chapter 13 Review. Review the chapter. Answer in your notebook or on the computer the Chapter Review questions. Only the Define, Identify, and Explain sections need to be graded. This grade is put in Section A of the Quarter Report Form. Section Review for Chapter 13 The questions and answers for this section review will help the student to prepare for the tests. Content can be from the chapter in the text book, or from the Lesson Plan associated with that chapter. Please don t forget to review the articles in the Lesson Plan. 1. What did Aquinas teach about self-sufficient communities, and explain why? 2. What did St. Bonaventure teach about international trade? 3. What did Vitoria teach about international trade? 4. What is the most common cause of mass starvations? 5. The first attempt at creating a one-world economic system and government was recorded. 6. What is the philosophy of globalism? 7. Briefly identify the three main parts of the U.N. 8. Identify NAFTA and GATT. 9. Identify three agencies of the United Nations that impact the world economy. 10. Why was the International Monetary Fund started? 11. What was the EEC? 12. Name a danger of the Most Favored Nation status. 13. How can the Most Favored Nation policy of the World Trade Organization be used for improper reasons? 14. Describe bilateral treaties. 15. Describe the blueprint of the United Nations. 16. Name four organizations of environmentalists who want a global government to save the environment. ELE404_15B ECONOMICS 12/15/2015 PAGE 29
Day 5 Chapter 14: A Cheerful View of Our Economic Future. Skim read the subheadings of the chapter, look at the pictures. Read, study Refuting the Prophets of Doom, pp. 221 to 225. Read this section on Thomas Robert Malthus. Believe it or not, Malthus is one of the most followed economists in history. It has become a widely accepted principle that a large increase in population is a bad thing for an economy. However, there is no economic basis for this argument, and much evidence to the contrary. Remember this important principle: People do not starve due to a lack of food they starve due to bad governments. If you look at all major incidents of starvation in history, you would have a difficult time finding a single instance in which starvation occurred for any other reason than bad governments. The starvation of Ukraine, the Irish potato famine, starvation in Somalia all these were due to bad or cruel governments. The next time you are arguing with an overpopulation fanatic, ask him to please point out to you the last time anyone starved due to an actual lack of food. For all we hear about how capitalism is heartless, think of it this way. Capitalist societies are the first societies in history in which people are trying to figure out how to eat less food. You probably know people who are always trying new diets. Malthus would have found this incredible. Simply put, dire needs do not go unaddressed within a free market system. Answer the Consider 14.1 questions orally. WEEK EIGHTEEN Read, study Killing the Goose That Lays the Golden Eggs, pp. 227 to 230. Much of the anti-business sentiment springs from concupiscence. It probably strikes you as unjust that a professional baseball player makes $25 million while the man in the concession stand makes only $6 an hour. However, we have to answer the question: why is this unjust? In a free market economy, people are paid what their work is perceived to be worth. That is the only way to run an economy. The only injustice regarding the salaries of baseball players is that the government takes so much of the salary in taxes. Answer the Consider 14.2 questions orally. Read, study Building on the Moral Foundation of Economics, pp. 231 to 233. The author makes a startling statement: material prosperity depends upon moral convictions and behavior. While the author builds a strong case by saying that things like honesty and hard work are important for an individual or an economy to flourish, his premise is simply inaccurate due to its universality. This is a Protestant notion. Most famous musicians today are flourishing, but not due to their moral convictions. Many people get rich by having bad morals, which explains why pornography and abortion are multi-billion dollar industries. PAGE 30 ECONOMICS 12/15/2015 ELE404_15B