Book Title: The Servant Economy, Where America's Elite Is Sending The Middle Class
Author: Jeff Faux
ISBN: 978-0-470-18239-0
Go to 2017 Directory of Authors & Books
Go to Answer Key
I know this book will seem strange in a list for books for young people. As I read this book, I think young people need to read it.
I highly recommend this book to first or second year college students. For high school seniors, I recommend they read chapters 10-11. These chapters are one of the most important chapters for them.
I also highly recommend this book to foreign business students. If you are studying economics outside the U.S., I highly recommend you read this book and compare it to your country. Please post comments and tell me how this compares to your country.
This book will take about one week to read averaging 2 hours a day.
Chapter 1: The Politics of Hope
1. What are America’s three principal national dreams?
2. What two areas in the world have greater economic mobility than the U.S.?
3. Which two countries had the least economic mobility?
4. The 2006 review showed Canada, Norway, Finland, and Denmark being the most economic mobile countries. True or False
5. The 2006 review showed Sweden, Germany, and France being in the middle of economic mobility. True or False
Chapter 2: A Brief History of America’s Cushion
6. Which European power sacked and burned Washington D.C. in 1812?
7. What was the federal government’s chief source of revenue during George Washington’s time?
8. Who labeled public investments in canals, roads, and other infrastructure the “American System”?
9. What was a major economic cause of the Civil War?
10. What was the U.S. population in 1845?
11. In 1857, roughly how many people were unemployed in New York?
12. What two Acts did President Lincoln sign in 1862?
13. What was the Railroad Act of 1862?
14. What was the Homestead Act?
15. The U.S. railroad network expanded from 30,000 to 170,000 miles by what Act?
16. There were two effects from the Railroad Act?
17. Which 1886 U.S. Supreme Court decision gave corporations the same protections as individual citizens?
18. By 1900 thirty of the forty-five states required children up to age of fourteen to attend school. True or False
19. In 1880, _____ out of _____ children under _____________ was a worker.
20. In 1914, what percentage of the world’s oil supply was produced in the U.S.?
21. In the roaring 20’s, what richest 1% earned how much of the disposable income of the bottom 93%?
22. What was the Davis-Bacon Act?
23. In 1870, the U.S. accounted for what percentage of the world’s gross domestic product?
24. In 1919, the U.S. accounted for what percentage of the world’s gross domestic product?
25. In the 1950’s, the U.S. accounted for what percentage of the world’s gross domestic product?
26. What were the three great civilian investment programs from the Cold War?
27. What did the Marshall Plan provide to foreign countries?
28. Who was the world’s greatest creditor before World War 1?
29. The British Pound Sterling belonged to?
30. What war destroyed Britain’s capacity to be the world’s creditor?
31. In 1944, the U.S. and Britain hosted a conference in New Hampshire to design a new international monetary system. The U.S. agreed to redeem U.S. dollars from foreign central banks at $35 per ounce.
32. In 1944, the center of global financial power moved from New York to London.
33. In 1947, the average workweek was _____________ hours.
34. In 1978, the average work week was __________ hours.
Chapter 3: The Cushion Deflates
35. In 1950, Economist Robert Frank wrote that a worker earning the average age had to work _________ hours a month in order to afford the average priced house. By 1970, it dropped to ________ hours and by 2000 it was 67.4 hours. This was called the “Toil Index.”
36. In 1948, the U.S. took the role of which European power as protector of the Middle East?
37. What was the name of the Iranian leader that was democratically elected in 1953?
38. What did this Iranian leader do to British oil interest in his country?
39. What happened to this leader?
40. What was the name of the war in the Middle East that took place in 1973?
41. Who placed an oil embargo on the U.S. for selling weapons to Israel?
42. What cartel of thirteen oil-producing countries was founded in 1960?
43. Did the Arab states control the oil technology?
44. Who were the western oil companies’ biggest customers?
45. Who controlled the flow of oil and the flow of money coming out of the Middle East?
Chapter 4: The Age of Reagan: Americans Abandoned
46. How does Social Security work as described on page 72, fourth paragraph?
47. Which President balanced the federal budget?
48. What percentage of American Workers unionized during and before President Reagan?
49. What three treaties did President Clinton sign?
50. What year was NAFTA signed?
51. What year was the World Trade Organization Treaty signed?
52. What year was the Permanent Normal Trade Relations Agreement signed?
53. By 2008, what percentage of Standard and Poor’s top 500 U.S. corporations producing items outside the U.S.?
54. The information economy is tied to the ______________________ of goods.
55. The more the U.S. offshores production jobs, the more it offshores research and development. True or False
56. Speculating is a fancy word for _________________.
57. What were the names of the two investors who cornered ¾ of the world’s silver market?
58. The government bailout of the saving and loans deposits that were paid exceeded the bank deposits lost in the 1929 crash. True or False
59. How much did junk bond king, Michael Milken, pay in penalties?
60. How much money did Michael Milken get to keep?
61. How much prison time did he do?
62. What Act was repealed that deregulated banks?
Chapter 5: Who Knew? They Knew
63. In 1980, U.S. consumers’ debt was 70% of their disposable income. In 2007, the debt was _______________%.
64. What are Credit Default Swaps?
65. What was larger than the two U.S. Stock Markets combined?
66. In the dot com boom, what percentage of Americans owned stocks?
67. What percentage of households owned mutual funds or had a 401(K) plan?
68. During the dot com era in the 1990’s, the richest 10% of households owned what percentage of stocks?
69. In 1968, the richest 1% of Americans were 168 times wealthier than the average American. In 2001, they were 173 times richer, and by 2004, 190 times richer. True or False
Chapter 6: Obama: Stuck in the Sandpile
70. What was the U.S. unemployment rate in 2010?
71. What does TARP stand for?
72. After World War 1, the U.S. created the RCA Corp. What does RCA stand for?
73. The government purchased _____________________________ transmission patents and pooled them together to create RCA. True or False
74. The sculptor for the Martin Luther King Jr. stone memorial at the National Mall in Washington was from what country?
Chapter 7: The Shaky Case for Optimism
75. On page 159, what was California’s unemployment rate?
Chapter 8: The Politics of Austerity
76. At what rate is the workforce growing yearly?
77. To maintain the same level of production, the amount of the labor needs to be reduced. True or False
78. The reduction in labor to maintain the same level of production is called worker-productivity. True or False
79. In order to reduce unemployment, the economy has to grow faster than 3.3%. True or False
80. What are the 3 ways to deal with energy crisis, stated by Thornton Bradshaw, (1977) head of Atlantic-Richfield Oil?
81. When was the Republican Party born?
82. The Republican Party was created because of the inability of current parties to deal with the issues that led to the Civil War. True or False
83. Why do third political parties fail in the U.S.?
84. Where would a third party emerge?
85. The far right and far left are good candidates for a third party?
86. The “centrist” is also referred to as the “radical center” and the “third way.” True or False
87. For these parties, where is funding expected to come from?
88. What was the name of the Supreme Court decision that removed restrictions on how much corporations could contribute to so-called independent campaign expenditures?
89. What are “Super-PACs”?
90. In today’s political climate to win an election, “Super PACs” are a standard part of the strategy. True or False
91. Can U.S. affiliates of foreign corporations make unrestricted contributions to independent campaigns?
92. Who ruled that corporate executives, who were foreign nationals, couldn’t make specific decisions about which candidate their U.S. affiliates contribute their money to?
Chapter 9: Grand Bargain? A Done Deal
93. Which country, 25 years after the Cold War, is spending as much as the rest of the world on their military?
94. Which country has 700+ military bases around the world?
95. Which department of the government is a major financier of universities through research grants and scholarships?
96. What department of the government is a major sponsor of popular entertainment?
97. Which country, in 2009, surpassed the U.S. as Brazil’s largest trading partner?
98. Which Colombian organization has been branded by the State Department as a terrorist organization?
99. Which three government agencies are helping Mexico?
100. How big is the drug business in Mexico?
Chapter 10: Flickering Hope: Schools, Trade Winds, and the Bubble’s Return
101. In 2010, what was the rank of the United States compared to advanced nations in the share of its workforce with a two-year associate degree or better?
102. What was the U.S. ranked among young workers with a two-year degree or better?
103. In 2011, what was the average annual cost of a public university for an in-state student?
104. In 2011, what was the average annual cost of a private university?
105. In 2008, where did the U.S. rank in science for grades k-12?
106. In 2008, where did the U.S. rank in math?
107. At elite universities, what is the college enrollment percentage for the top 25% income bracket?
108. At elite universities, what is the college enrollment percentage for the middle 50% income bracket?
109. At elite universities, what is the college enrollment percentage for the bottom 25% income bracket?
110. Are the teachers unionized in Finland, South Korea, and Singapore?
111. Are the schools run by the central government in Finland, South Korea, and Singapore?
112. In South Korea, teachers’ salaries are in par with engineers and _________________.
113. In South Korea, teachers’ are chosen from the top __________ of college graduates.
114. What company does the Washington Post own?
115. What is “onshoring”?
116. What is the size of the U.S. drug market?
117. Who are the BRIC nations?
Chapter 11: From Service to Servitude
118. Yale Professor Lisa Kahn reports that every 1% increase in the unemployment rate drops the entry-level wage to what percentage?
119. Workers who are unemployed for long stretches in their teens or early twenties have a greater probability of experiencing 3 things. What are they?
120. British Economist Andrew Oswald claims that for a male being unemployed for 6 months is “equivalent” to what?
121. A 2009 study by Ann Huff Stevens and Jessamyn Schaller, University of California at Davis, found that when a parent loses his or her job, the percentage of their child being held back a grade increases by 15%. True or False
122. What is the poverty line income in the U.S. in 2011?
123. In 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau determined that 100 million people are living in desperate or deteriorating circumstances below the poverty level. True or False
124. What skills are required in a high unemployment-personal service economy?
125. What are the skills of “ingratiation”?
Chapter 12: Hope, from the Ashes of No Hope
126. What will the world population be in 2050?
Author: Jeff Faux
ISBN: 978-0-470-18239-0
Go to 2017 Directory of Authors & Books
Go to Answer Key
I know this book will seem strange in a list for books for young people. As I read this book, I think young people need to read it.
I highly recommend this book to first or second year college students. For high school seniors, I recommend they read chapters 10-11. These chapters are one of the most important chapters for them.
I also highly recommend this book to foreign business students. If you are studying economics outside the U.S., I highly recommend you read this book and compare it to your country. Please post comments and tell me how this compares to your country.
This book will take about one week to read averaging 2 hours a day.
Chapter 1: The Politics of Hope
1. What are America’s three principal national dreams?
2. What two areas in the world have greater economic mobility than the U.S.?
3. Which two countries had the least economic mobility?
4. The 2006 review showed Canada, Norway, Finland, and Denmark being the most economic mobile countries. True or False
5. The 2006 review showed Sweden, Germany, and France being in the middle of economic mobility. True or False
Chapter 2: A Brief History of America’s Cushion
6. Which European power sacked and burned Washington D.C. in 1812?
7. What was the federal government’s chief source of revenue during George Washington’s time?
8. Who labeled public investments in canals, roads, and other infrastructure the “American System”?
9. What was a major economic cause of the Civil War?
10. What was the U.S. population in 1845?
11. In 1857, roughly how many people were unemployed in New York?
12. What two Acts did President Lincoln sign in 1862?
13. What was the Railroad Act of 1862?
14. What was the Homestead Act?
15. The U.S. railroad network expanded from 30,000 to 170,000 miles by what Act?
16. There were two effects from the Railroad Act?
17. Which 1886 U.S. Supreme Court decision gave corporations the same protections as individual citizens?
18. By 1900 thirty of the forty-five states required children up to age of fourteen to attend school. True or False
19. In 1880, _____ out of _____ children under _____________ was a worker.
20. In 1914, what percentage of the world’s oil supply was produced in the U.S.?
21. In the roaring 20’s, what richest 1% earned how much of the disposable income of the bottom 93%?
22. What was the Davis-Bacon Act?
23. In 1870, the U.S. accounted for what percentage of the world’s gross domestic product?
24. In 1919, the U.S. accounted for what percentage of the world’s gross domestic product?
25. In the 1950’s, the U.S. accounted for what percentage of the world’s gross domestic product?
26. What were the three great civilian investment programs from the Cold War?
27. What did the Marshall Plan provide to foreign countries?
28. Who was the world’s greatest creditor before World War 1?
29. The British Pound Sterling belonged to?
30. What war destroyed Britain’s capacity to be the world’s creditor?
31. In 1944, the U.S. and Britain hosted a conference in New Hampshire to design a new international monetary system. The U.S. agreed to redeem U.S. dollars from foreign central banks at $35 per ounce.
32. In 1944, the center of global financial power moved from New York to London.
33. In 1947, the average workweek was _____________ hours.
34. In 1978, the average work week was __________ hours.
Chapter 3: The Cushion Deflates
35. In 1950, Economist Robert Frank wrote that a worker earning the average age had to work _________ hours a month in order to afford the average priced house. By 1970, it dropped to ________ hours and by 2000 it was 67.4 hours. This was called the “Toil Index.”
36. In 1948, the U.S. took the role of which European power as protector of the Middle East?
37. What was the name of the Iranian leader that was democratically elected in 1953?
38. What did this Iranian leader do to British oil interest in his country?
39. What happened to this leader?
40. What was the name of the war in the Middle East that took place in 1973?
41. Who placed an oil embargo on the U.S. for selling weapons to Israel?
42. What cartel of thirteen oil-producing countries was founded in 1960?
43. Did the Arab states control the oil technology?
44. Who were the western oil companies’ biggest customers?
45. Who controlled the flow of oil and the flow of money coming out of the Middle East?
Chapter 4: The Age of Reagan: Americans Abandoned
46. How does Social Security work as described on page 72, fourth paragraph?
47. Which President balanced the federal budget?
48. What percentage of American Workers unionized during and before President Reagan?
49. What three treaties did President Clinton sign?
50. What year was NAFTA signed?
51. What year was the World Trade Organization Treaty signed?
52. What year was the Permanent Normal Trade Relations Agreement signed?
53. By 2008, what percentage of Standard and Poor’s top 500 U.S. corporations producing items outside the U.S.?
54. The information economy is tied to the ______________________ of goods.
55. The more the U.S. offshores production jobs, the more it offshores research and development. True or False
56. Speculating is a fancy word for _________________.
57. What were the names of the two investors who cornered ¾ of the world’s silver market?
58. The government bailout of the saving and loans deposits that were paid exceeded the bank deposits lost in the 1929 crash. True or False
59. How much did junk bond king, Michael Milken, pay in penalties?
60. How much money did Michael Milken get to keep?
61. How much prison time did he do?
62. What Act was repealed that deregulated banks?
Chapter 5: Who Knew? They Knew
63. In 1980, U.S. consumers’ debt was 70% of their disposable income. In 2007, the debt was _______________%.
64. What are Credit Default Swaps?
65. What was larger than the two U.S. Stock Markets combined?
66. In the dot com boom, what percentage of Americans owned stocks?
67. What percentage of households owned mutual funds or had a 401(K) plan?
68. During the dot com era in the 1990’s, the richest 10% of households owned what percentage of stocks?
69. In 1968, the richest 1% of Americans were 168 times wealthier than the average American. In 2001, they were 173 times richer, and by 2004, 190 times richer. True or False
Chapter 6: Obama: Stuck in the Sandpile
70. What was the U.S. unemployment rate in 2010?
71. What does TARP stand for?
72. After World War 1, the U.S. created the RCA Corp. What does RCA stand for?
73. The government purchased _____________________________ transmission patents and pooled them together to create RCA. True or False
74. The sculptor for the Martin Luther King Jr. stone memorial at the National Mall in Washington was from what country?
Chapter 7: The Shaky Case for Optimism
75. On page 159, what was California’s unemployment rate?
Chapter 8: The Politics of Austerity
76. At what rate is the workforce growing yearly?
77. To maintain the same level of production, the amount of the labor needs to be reduced. True or False
78. The reduction in labor to maintain the same level of production is called worker-productivity. True or False
79. In order to reduce unemployment, the economy has to grow faster than 3.3%. True or False
80. What are the 3 ways to deal with energy crisis, stated by Thornton Bradshaw, (1977) head of Atlantic-Richfield Oil?
81. When was the Republican Party born?
82. The Republican Party was created because of the inability of current parties to deal with the issues that led to the Civil War. True or False
83. Why do third political parties fail in the U.S.?
84. Where would a third party emerge?
85. The far right and far left are good candidates for a third party?
86. The “centrist” is also referred to as the “radical center” and the “third way.” True or False
87. For these parties, where is funding expected to come from?
88. What was the name of the Supreme Court decision that removed restrictions on how much corporations could contribute to so-called independent campaign expenditures?
89. What are “Super-PACs”?
90. In today’s political climate to win an election, “Super PACs” are a standard part of the strategy. True or False
91. Can U.S. affiliates of foreign corporations make unrestricted contributions to independent campaigns?
92. Who ruled that corporate executives, who were foreign nationals, couldn’t make specific decisions about which candidate their U.S. affiliates contribute their money to?
Chapter 9: Grand Bargain? A Done Deal
93. Which country, 25 years after the Cold War, is spending as much as the rest of the world on their military?
94. Which country has 700+ military bases around the world?
95. Which department of the government is a major financier of universities through research grants and scholarships?
96. What department of the government is a major sponsor of popular entertainment?
97. Which country, in 2009, surpassed the U.S. as Brazil’s largest trading partner?
98. Which Colombian organization has been branded by the State Department as a terrorist organization?
99. Which three government agencies are helping Mexico?
100. How big is the drug business in Mexico?
Chapter 10: Flickering Hope: Schools, Trade Winds, and the Bubble’s Return
101. In 2010, what was the rank of the United States compared to advanced nations in the share of its workforce with a two-year associate degree or better?
102. What was the U.S. ranked among young workers with a two-year degree or better?
103. In 2011, what was the average annual cost of a public university for an in-state student?
104. In 2011, what was the average annual cost of a private university?
105. In 2008, where did the U.S. rank in science for grades k-12?
106. In 2008, where did the U.S. rank in math?
107. At elite universities, what is the college enrollment percentage for the top 25% income bracket?
108. At elite universities, what is the college enrollment percentage for the middle 50% income bracket?
109. At elite universities, what is the college enrollment percentage for the bottom 25% income bracket?
110. Are the teachers unionized in Finland, South Korea, and Singapore?
111. Are the schools run by the central government in Finland, South Korea, and Singapore?
112. In South Korea, teachers’ salaries are in par with engineers and _________________.
113. In South Korea, teachers’ are chosen from the top __________ of college graduates.
114. What company does the Washington Post own?
115. What is “onshoring”?
116. What is the size of the U.S. drug market?
117. Who are the BRIC nations?
Chapter 11: From Service to Servitude
118. Yale Professor Lisa Kahn reports that every 1% increase in the unemployment rate drops the entry-level wage to what percentage?
119. Workers who are unemployed for long stretches in their teens or early twenties have a greater probability of experiencing 3 things. What are they?
120. British Economist Andrew Oswald claims that for a male being unemployed for 6 months is “equivalent” to what?
121. A 2009 study by Ann Huff Stevens and Jessamyn Schaller, University of California at Davis, found that when a parent loses his or her job, the percentage of their child being held back a grade increases by 15%. True or False
122. What is the poverty line income in the U.S. in 2011?
123. In 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau determined that 100 million people are living in desperate or deteriorating circumstances below the poverty level. True or False
124. What skills are required in a high unemployment-personal service economy?
125. What are the skills of “ingratiation”?
Chapter 12: Hope, from the Ashes of No Hope
126. What will the world population be in 2050?
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