Economic Concepts Quiz

Capitalism and Labor

• Capitalism is an economic system where private individuals and businesses own and operate the means of production, creating goods and services for profit.
• In a capitalist society, the proletariat, or working class, are the people who do not own the means of production and must sell their labor to survive.
• Means of production refer to the resources, such as factories, land, and tools, used to create goods and services.
• Alienation in the context of labor is the feeling of dissatisfaction and disconnection from the fruits of one's labor, where workers are not able to fully control or benefit from the products of their work.

Social Mobility and Economic Hierarchy

• Social mobility is the opportunity to move up or down in the economic hierarchy, where individuals can improve or worsen their economic status through their own efforts or circumstances.
• In a capitalist society, the bourgeoisie, or capitalist class, are the people who employ the workers and own the means of production.
• The resources used to create wealth in a capitalist economic system are the means of production, which are owned and controlled by the capitalist class.
• The proletariat, or working class, are the people who are employed by others and work for a wage, often lacking control over their labor and the products they create.