1. Did mercantilist trade policies involve government intervention or a hands-off approach by government?
2. What function(s) did the state take over from the church during this period?
3. Did mercantilist policies repudiate the Christian paternalistic ethic? If so, how?
4. How did views of human nature change as capitalist social relations replaced feudal ones?
5. How were Protestant and Catholic theological attitudes to economics similar?
6. How were Protestant and Catholic theological attitudes to economics different?
7. Explain John Hales argument (page 38) in plain English.
8. What was Bernard Mandeville’s argument?
1) What
were the differences between mercantilist and classical liberals on foreign
trade?
2) What
were the economic and social consequences of the development of the steam
engine?
3) According
to the text, how did the industrial revolution transform England?
4) What
were the four classical liberals assumptions about human nature?
5) What
were the practical results of these assumptions in economic activities?
6) Did
classical liberals have the same view of human nature for the poor as for the
rich?
7) What
were Hobbes’ assumptions about human nature?
8) What
conclusions did he reach as a result of these assumptions?
9) What
do these conclusions imply about competition in business?
10) Why
did Adam Smith believe a free market would benefit consumers?
11) Describe
what Smith meant by a “free market”.
12) What
were the 3 functions Adam Smith believed a government should perform?
13) How
does the author of the text state that capitalist governments actually
fulfilled these functions?
14) What
is Malthus’ theory of population?