Friedrich Hayek, the man quoted at the start of the chapter, is an Austrian economist who won a Nobel Prize in economics. He argued that government intervention is difficult to contain. Suppose central planners have decided to financially support all children with food vouchers, free daycare and public school.
What problems might this create?
How might this lead to further interference by central planners into family choices? (Austrian)
In his The Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that "no State has ever been founded without a religious basis [but] the law of Christianity at bottom does more harm by weakening than good by strengthening the constitution of the State." What does he mean by that, and is he correct? (Christian)
In economics, a household is defined as a group of individuals making joint decisions as though acting as one person.
How do you think decisions are actually made about things like consumption and allocation of time within the household?
Does bargaining take place?
If so, what gives an individual power to bargain effectively for their preferences?
Do individuals act cooperatively within the family and competitively in everywhere else?
Does this make sense? (Feminist)
This chapter emphasized the importance of the relationship between how the economic system is organized and value systems. Knowing that how I raise my child will greatly shape how he or she will ultimately fit into the social and economic process, should I raise my child to be selfless, compassionate, and dedicated to advancing the well-being of others, knowing she will probably be poor; or shall I raise her to be self-centered, uncaring, and greedy to increase her chances to acquire personal fortune? Which decision is just and why? (Institutionalist)
The text discusses consumer sovereignty and suggests that it guides the market choices.
Is consumer sovereignty a myth or reality in today's consumer culture?
Do consumers "direct" the economy as suggested by the text, or has invention become the mother of necessity, as Thorstein Veblen once quipped?
If the consumer is not sovereign, then who is and what does that imply for economics? (Radical)
In 2004 the hourly cost to employers per German industrial worker was $22.86. The hourly cost to employers per U.S. industrial worker was $20.32, while the average cost per Taiwanese industrial worker was $5.70.
Give three reasons why firms produce in Germany rather than in a lower-wage country.
Germany has just entered into an agreement with other EU countries that allows people in any EU country, including Greece and Italy, which have lower wage rates, to travel and work in any EU country, including high-wage countries. Would you expect a significant movement of workers from Greece and Italy to Germany right away? Why or why not?
Workers in Thailand are paid significantly less than workers in Taiwan. If you were a company CEO, what other information would you want before you decided where to establish a new production facility?
