Social Institutions and Economy

Study Notes

Economy is one of the biggest impacts on society
Family, Church, Government, and School are all social institutions

Sectors of Production

Primary Sector: extracts raw materials
Secondary Sector: transforms raw materials into finished products
Tertiary Sector: services are more involved than products

Bretton Woods System

Established to restructure the world economy and ensure global financial stability
Five key elements:
- Currency expressed in terms of gold
- Official monetary authority in each country
- An overseer for exchange rates
- Eliminating restrictions on currencies in international trade
- US dollar became the global currency

International Trade Organizations

GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade):
- Established in 1947
- Forum for representatives from 23 member countries
- Focused on trade goods through multinational trade agreements
WTO (World Trade Organization):
- Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland
- 152 member states as of 2008
- Independent multilateral organization
- Focus on non-tariff-related barriers to trade and trade liberalization
- Neoliberalism: reducing or eliminating barriers to benefit all nations

International Financial Institutions

IMF (International Monetary Fund):
- Goal: to help countries in trouble
- Served as a lender or last resort for countries needing financial assistance
WB (World Bank):
- Goal: eradication of poverty
- Funded specific projects to help poor countries
- Long-term approach

NAFTA and Outsourcing

NAFTA: North America Free Trade Agreement
- Trade pact between the US, Mexico, and Canada
- Established on January 1, 1994
- Goal: increase cooperation to improve working conditions and reduce barriers to trade
Outsourcing: moving production to countries with low labor costs, weak government regulation, and low raw materials

OPEC and Agricultural Revolution

OPEC: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
- Originally comprised of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Venezuela
- Formed to increase the price of oil
- Current members: UAE, Algeria, Libya, Qatar, Nigeria, and Indonesia
Agricultural Revolution:
- People learned to domesticate plants and animals
- Farming helped build surpluses
- Three major developments: permanent settlements, trade networks, and population growth

Industrial Revolution

Result: steam engines, manufacturing, and mass production
Factories changed how work functioned
- Productivity increased
- Standards of living rose
- People had access to a wider variety of goods

Economic Systems

Capitalism:
- Principles: profit maximization, presence of competition, private ownership of production, non-government intervention
- Features: labor unions, minimum wage laws, reasonable working hours, regulations to protect workers
Socialism:
- Principles: inspired by Karl Marx
- Features: property ownership by the state or community, collective ownership of production

Description

This quiz covers the basics of social institutions, including economy, family, church, government, and school, as well as the three sectors of production and the background of the Bretton Woods System.