The Final Examination schedule is:

The Final Examination will cover lectures from Monday, March 21 through Wednesday, May 4 as well as text chapters Ch. 15 (pp. 278-280), Ch.17, Ch. 18, Ch. 23, Ch. 24, Ch. 26 (pp. 504-506), Ch. 27 (pp. 511-16), Ch. 28 pp. 534-39, Ch. 29 and Ch. 30 pp. 574-77 and the supplemental readings assigned. You do not need to read the materials listed as "optional" on the syllabus.  The exam will not cover the "D" readings discussed on Fridays.  The supplemental readings covered on the exam are:

Costa, From Mill Town to Board Room:  The Rise of Women's Paid Labor, in The Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Shiller, Housing bubbles are few and far between in The New York Times.

Lindert, "Three Centuries of Inequality in Britain and the U.S." Handbook of Income Distribution

Gordon, Does the "New Economy Measure" up to the Great Inventions of the Past? in The Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Krugman, Can America Stay on Top? in The Journal of Economic Perspectives.

As always, everything is "fair game" for the exam.  However, the materials I cover in class are the topics I feel are most important.  The test format will be the same as the midterm and include short answer/definition and essay questions.

Answering the following sample essay questions will provide valuable practice for the exam (note: these questions may refer to optional readings, but just speak to the points that we raised in class and on the PowerPoints):

1. Why are monopolies "bad" from an economic and social point of view?
2. What was a "trust" and were the various government attempts to curb anti-competitive behavior before WWII successful?
3. U.S. industrial concentration grew 1870-1920.  Describe the pattern of increased mergers (horizontal and vertical) and the likely explanations.  Which explanation(s) seem most plausible for why firms grew large?
4. What was immigration's effect on the labor force and wages from 1870 to 1920?  Be sure to note the distinction between skilled and unskilled labor.  Why was both skilled and unskilled labor opposed to immigration?
5. Between 1870 and 1930, various laws restricting immigration were put into place.  Explain who the "new immigrants" of the period were.  What were the attempts to keep their numbers low?
6. Between 1870 and 1920, labor union power grew then receded, and there was much violent conflict.  What were unions fighting for during this period, and how successful were they?  Was the government sympathetic to union's concerns?  Explain.
7. Many of the worker safety laws passed between 1870 and 1920 were ostensibly to "protect" women and children in the workplace.  Explain why some argue that these laws were supported by unions to help their predominately adult male workers.
8. According to Dora Costa, what has been the history of women's labor force participation and type of work in each period 1820-1890, 1890-1950, 1950-1970, and 1970 to today?  What accounts for changes in female participation in each period and over time?  Why is female labor force participation "U-shaped?"
9. What is a stock and a stock market?  What did Charlie Dow and Eddie Jones do?  What is the Dow Jones Industrial Average?
10. Explain what determines stock prices (the "Fundamentals" approach)?  How is an asset "bubble" different?
11. Stock prices rose to record levels before the Depression.  Does the evidence support the claim that the stock market was an irrational "bubble" throughout the 1920s?  Explain.
12. What is buying on "margin?" and how might this have made the stock market crash in 1929 worse?
13. What are the three conditions most conducive to speculative bubbles?  Was the increase in stock prices in the late 1990s an example of a bubble?
14. Describe the characteristics of the 1920s Florida Land Boom.  When and why did it end?
15. How does the price of housing today compare to the price of housing since 1890?  What determines the "fundamental" price of housing, and what has happened to the price of housing relative to rent and income over the last 30 years?
16. What is a business cycle?  In what ways was the Great Depression a very bad recession?  Be specific in terms of the unemployment rate and GNP growth, etc.
17. [NOTE: ignore this question]What was the "Bonus Army" and what did they want?
18. What is the Keynesian explanation for the Great Depression?  What evidence is there to support their conclusions?
19. According to monetarists, why were bank failures important to the Great Depression?  Why do the monetarists claim that the Federal Reserve made the Depression worse than it could have been?
20. The New Deal ushered in a new era of government intervention in industry.  Citing specific examples from various industries, such as "financial," "government," "agricultural," etc., show how programs created by Roosevelt affected the economy.  Did New Deal programs help or hurt the economy in the long run?  Explain.
21. What were the concerns and legislation of the early U.S. conservation movement?  What is the "environmental Kuznets curve" and how does the example of Los Angeles smog removal support the environmental Kuznets curve?
22. Can you identify major economics events by decade since World War II?
23. Is U.S. immigration (both legal and illegal) higher today than in 1950?  Who are the "new immigrants?"  Discuss arguments both for and against restricting legal immigration.
24. "American history has been one of rising inequality in household income."  Evaluate this statement with the evidence presented by Lindert and discuss the factors that lead to changes in the household income distribution.
25. Explain why Gordon does not believe that computers have led to a "3rd" Industrial Revolution.  In your answer, be sure to discuss productivity, the characteristics of the "2nd" Industrial Revolution, diminishing returns to computers, and the benefits of the Internet.
26. Will America's position of economic dominance continue in the foreseeable future, or are forces at work to erode its leadership?  What are the arguments and data presented in the Krugman reading?