The 20th century has been characterized by an increase in wealth broadly applied..
An increase in wealth that has not just made the rich richer but caused the material condition of the poor, near poor, and average person to be vastly improved. The bottom class of most societies are richer and more prosperous today than ever before. In addition to improvements in material welfare, the 20th century has seen the spread of political freedom and societies that respect human rights and the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness enshrined in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Brutal oppressive dictatorships still exist in Communist China, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and other countries but for other large swaths of humanity in Western Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, etc., stable democratic societies have been created or preserved which respect the rights of individuals to live consistent with their own values, determine their own fates, and live in peace and harmony with their neighbors. These societies have without exception adopted a free market capitalist economic system–maximum freedom societies where individuals are left free to pursue their self-interest as they define it. Question 1. Explain Milton Friedman’s theory about how free markets produce wealth and political freedom. What is Friedman’s positive statement? What is the A and B in his “If A then B”? Has Friedman’s theory accurately predicted the world?Cite examples. Question 2. A component of the increase in material welfare is the improvement in technology that has occurred in the 20th century. Railroads, nuclear power, the internal combustion engine, genetically modified animals and plants, vaccinations, etc. are examples of some of technological innovations that have improved lives in the 20th century. Explain how a free market system distributes the benefits of technological innovation to the poor, near poor, and the average person. On balance, is a free market capitalist system better or worse than other systems at insuring the benefits of technological innovation are widely distributed among all classes of society. Question 3 (500 words). Read the New York Times article about the “New Socialism” (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and “The Millennial Socialists are Coming (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.”. Also read the article , “A Slow Motion Catastrophe: On The Road in Venezuela, 20 Years After Chavez’s Rise.” (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. USE ONLY THE THREE LINKS PROVIDED BELOW!! Many college students supported Bernie Sanders in the last presidential election and are fans of Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, both avowed socialists. Given what you have learned in this class, are Sanders and Cortez supporters’ naive? You can argue either side but your argument must be backed up by economic theory and history covered this semester. LINKS https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/opinion/sunday/what-socialism-looks-like-in-2018.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/30/opinion/democratic-socialists-progressive-democratic-party-trump.html https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/06/on-the-road-venezuela-20-years-after-hugo-chavez-rise
The 20th century has been characterized by an increase in wealth broadly applied.