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Adam Smith and Karl Marx

Total questions: 20

Worksheet time: 20mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Which idea is most closely associated with laissez faire economics?

a)

communes

b)

trade unionism

c)

subsistence agriculture

d)

free trade

2.

Adam Smith would most likely agree with which statement?

a)

Revolution is the only solution to economic problems.

b)

Five-year plans are necessary in order to industrialize.

c)

All nations would benefit from an agricultural economy.

d)

Government should follow a laissez-faire policy.

3.

Laissez-faire capitalism as attributed to Adam Smith called for

a)

heavy taxation of manufacturers

b)

strict government control of the economy

c)

minimal government involvement in the economy

d)

government investments in major industries

4.

Which characteristic is associated with an economy based on the principles of laissez-faire?

a)

prices based on supply and demand

b)

production quotas established by the central government

c)

distribution of goods determined by the customs of a traditional society

d)

some goods exchanged for other goods of equal value

5.

Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations stressed the importance of

a)

tradition

b)

supply and demand

c)

large corporations

d)

government ownership

6.

What is a key principle of a market economy?

a)

The means of production are controlled by the state.

b)

Supply and demand determine production and price.

c)

Employment opportunities are determined by social class.

d)

Businesses are owned by the people collectively.

7.

Which heading best completes the partial outline below?


I. ___________________________________

A. Market system

B. Profit incentive

C. Entrepreneurs

a)

Forms of Government

b)

Characteristics of Capitalism

c)

Structure of the Guild System

d)

Elements of Culture

8.

During the 1800s, the writings of Marx, Engels, and Dickens focused attention on the problems faced by

a)

factory owners

b)

investment bankers

c)

farm laborers

d)

industrial workers

9.

“. . . They [the Communists] openly declare that their ends can be attained [achieved] only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Working men of all countries, unite!”

— Friederich Engels and Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto, 1848 from the NYS Global History and Geography Regents Exam, August 2002.


These views, expressed by Engels and Marx, were developed in reaction to the

a)

unification of Germany

b)

Commercial Revolution

c)

Congress of Vienna

d)

Industrial Revolution

10.

Where did Karl Marx predict a revolution of the proletariat would occur first?

a)

industrial Europe

b)

independent Latin America

c)

colonial Africa

d)

agricultural Russia

11.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels encouraged workers to improve their lives by

a)

electing union representatives

b)

participating in local government

c)

overthrowing the capitalist system

d)

demanding pensions and disability insurance

12.

In the late 1800s, one response of workers in England to unsafe working conditions was to

a)

take control of the government

b)

return to farming

c)

set minimum wages

d)

form labor unions

13.

Karl Marx predicted that laissez-faire capitalism would result in

a)

a return to manorialism

b)

a revolution led by the proletariat

c)

fewer government regulations

d)

an equal distribution of wealth and income

14.

Speaker A:Government should not interfere in relations between workers and business owners.

Speaker B:The workers will rise up and overthrow the privileged class.

Speaker C:Private property will cease to exist. The people will own the means of production.

Speaker D:A favorable balance of trade should be maintained by the use of tariffs.


Which two speakers represent Karl Marx’s ideas of communism?

a)

A and B

b)

B and C

c)

B and D

d)

C and D

15.

Speaker A:Government should not interfere in relations between workers and business owners.

Speaker B:The workers will rise up and overthrow the privileged class.

Speaker C:Private property will cease to exist. The people will own the means of production.

Speaker D:A favorable balance of trade should be maintained by the use of tariffs


Which speaker is referring to laissez-faire capitalism?

a)

A

b)

B

c)

C

d)

D

16.

In The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels expressed the idea that

a)

religion should be the most important factor in society

b)

power should be determined by a person’s wealth

c)

profits from work should belong to the workers

d)

supply and demand should control prices

17.

Laissez-faire economists of the 19th century

argued that

a)

the government should regulate the economy

and foreign trade

b)

individuals should be allowed to pursue their

self-interest in a free market

c)

governments should develop a state-run

banking system to prevent instability

d)

anarchy would result if universal male

suffrage was granted

18.

“. . . A place more destitute of all interesting

objects than Manchester, it is not easy to

conceive. In size and population it is the second city in the kingdom, containing above fourscore thousand [80,000] inhabitants. Imagine this multitude crowded together in narrow streets, the houses all built of brick and blackened with smoke; frequent buildings among them as large as convents, without their antiquity, without their

beauty, without their holiness; where you hear from within, as you pass along, the everlasting din of machinery; and where when the bell rings it is to call wretches to their work instead of their prayers, . . . ”

— Robert J. Southey, Letters from England, 1807


The conditions described in this passage occurred during the

a)

Age of Discovery

b)

Renaissance

c)

Industrial Revolution

d)

Green Revolution

19.

Which two major ideas are contained in the

writings of Karl Marx?

a)

survival of the fittest and natural selection

b)

class struggle and revolutionary change

c)

separation of powers and checks and balances

d)

monotheism and religious tolerance

20.

Which event had the greatest influence on the development of laissez-faire capitalism?

a)

fall of the Roman Empire

b)

invention of the printing press

c)

Industrial Revolution

d)

Green Revolution