Tara Thomas

Economics 1740
Salt Lake Community College

Free or Equal

1. The result will be equality of opportunity, but not equality of outcome.

2. In the late 1800s and early 1900s there were very few rules and regulations. There

were no requirements for licenses or permits when starting a business. This helped

immigrants thrive in America because there were no restrictions. They found a free

market.

3. The main factor that led to the rapidly rising standard of life in Hong Kong was the

complete absence of tariffs or any other restrictions on trade.

4. Voluntary association is anything happening between two consenting adults. The

buying and selling of goods, no one is subject to force or fraud. Without voluntary

association there wouldnt even be a free market. There must always be some sort of

product sold and a consumer to buy the product.

5. Each part of a lead pencil takes time and effort from thousands of people around the

world. The wood, the lead, the eraser, and the paint are each from somewhere

different around the world. The smart phone is produced in a similar way. The

camera, the screen, the speakers, and the memory chip are all manufactured in

different countries around the world. Thousands of invisible hands helping to make
 one product. The consumer has many different choices in products because of the

various competitors selling the same product.

6. This is an example of creative destruction. We must be creative, stop doing things the

old way and start doing things the innovative way. However, this leads to destruction

because the old factories and shops must close down which causes people to lose

their jobs.

7. The benefits of Sweden's high taxes and redistributed wealth is that it reduces

differences of outcome for the population and makes for more equalities. This in turn

reduces the rewards for working hard. The young entrepreneurs move out of the

country where the rewards are better and the taxes are lower.

8. An individual with high income will pay a large amount of money for the first

versions of things like phones and computers. This gives companies bigger markets

and more revenue so they can streamline production to create lower cost versions.

This is how the free market turns luxuries into consumer goods.

9. The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither. The society

that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both.

10. Equality of Opportunity & Equality of Outcome

School:

I would not approve of using the equality of outcome method for receiving my
final grade. If this method was used I wouldn't be prompted to work as hard on
 my class work because in the end itll be averaged with other students work. In

turn, I wouldnt learn as much information about the course material.

The pros of this method would be equality among the students. However, this
could also be a con. We would each receive the same grade regardless if we

worked hard or not. It is unfair to any of the students who worked hard on every

assignment and then by the end of the semester received a C grade when they

should have received an A.

Workplace:

As in the school equality of outcome scenario, I would not approve of this method

in calculating my salary. Each person deserves different pay based on their level

of education, skills, and job duties. For example, on an oil rig you wouldn't pay a

cook or a roughneck as much as you would pay an actual rig operator or an

engineer. Their job duties are very different and one requires more training and

harder work.

One con of this method would be lack of motivation in employees, especially the
employees who deserve higher pay.

11. The first learning outcome that I believe I achieved during this assignment is thinking

critically and creatively. Both scenarios for equality of outcome required me to use

creative thinking in order to reach my conclusion. Also, while engaged in watching

the Free or Equal video online I was analyzing each topic that was being discussed.

The second learning outcome I achieved is developing civic literacy and the capacity
to be a community-engaged learner who acts in mutually beneficial ways with

community partners. During the online video I gained a better understanding about

the history of economics. I also learned how many countries around the world have

evolved and progressed with various economies.