Age of Enlightenment A period (roughly 1700-89)

when political, economic, and social thought was

dominated by an optimistic faith in reason and in the
progress of the human race.
The Age of Exploration and Discovery (l5th-l7th
centuries) an era which provided natural wealth
from the colonies in the form of gold, silver, and other
raw resources.
Anarchism The support of no system of government;
the belief that government, controls, and authority are
oppressive.
Basic Agents (Factors) of Production Land, labour,
capital, and management
Behavioural Regularities Predictable aspects of the
marketplace, such as competition and demand.
Bourgeoisie The middle class. Technically, it includes
the "petite bourgeoisie," or small middle class the
small shopkeepers, government officials, lawyers,
doctors, independent farmers, and teachers and the
"haute bourgeoisie." The term is generally used by
Marxists to describe the owners of private property.
(Bourgeois is the spelling of the adjective form.)
Capital The physical necessities for production
buildings, machinery, tools, equipment, and supplies.
This term commonly refers to the money used to
purchase these necessities.
Capitalists The class which provides or controls the
money that underwrites the production of goods.
Technically, capitalists are the upper class of the
bourgeoisie, known as the "haute bourgeoisie," or
high middle class, the most hated class under
Marxism.
Circular Flow A static system which channels
productivity and profits into an endless exchange.
Classical Economists The economists who preached
the doctrine of laissez faire and stressed that the
production, consumption, and distribution of goods
and wealth are determined exclusively by economics
laws and principles.
Communism A belief in the achievement of socialism
by revolutionary means, particularly by class warfare.

Consumption The process by which goods and

services are utilized in satisfying human needs and
wants.
Dialectical Materialism Karl Marx's application of
Hegel's dialectical method to an explanation of all
world events.
Economic Activity All action concerned with the
creation of goods and services to be in some way
consumed.
Economic Imperialism The economic and/or political
domination of underdeveloped countries by powerful
nations. The period between 1870 and 1914 is known
as Europe's "Golden Age of Imperialism."
The Economic Revolution The development of
historical factors that culminated in the adoption of
the market system (capitalism).
Economic System The rules, laws, customs, and
principles that govern the operation of an economy.
Each economic system has its own peculiar problems
and therefore produces its own solutions.
Economics The study of
make a living; the study
satisfaction; the science
and consumption of goods

the ways in which people

of human wants and their
of production, distribution,
and services.

The
Emergence
of
Nation-States (l5th-l7th
centuries) a period giving rise to royal patronage
for favoured industries, maritime trade, common laws,
standard measures, and common currencies.
Enclosure Movement The practice of fencing off
lands formerly subject to common rights in order to
provide pasture land for sheep. This movement caused
a shift of the poor in England from farms to cities.
Entrepreneur A
business world.

risk-taker,

or

innovator,

in

the

Father of Anarchism Pierre Proudhon.

Father of Modern Economics Adam Smith.
Founder of British Socialism Robert Owen.
Founder of French Socialism Saint-Simon.

Compulsory Savings A deferred savings plan by

which a government finances a war through a required
deduction from all wages to pay for war bonds.
Conspicuous Consumption The use of material
goods to flaunt a persons belongings to a moneyed or
privileged class.

Francois Quesnay (1694-1774) French economist

who founded the school of Physiocrats and greatly
influenced Adam Smith.
Functional Distribution The division of income
according to different types . . . wages rent, interest,
profit.

The Great Crash The Wall Street Crash of October

1929, when the New York Stock Exchange collapsed
after a selling wave in which stock values tumbled in a
panic following an all-time high.
The
Great
Depression Worldwide
depression
triggered by the Wall Street Crash. The era extended
from 1930-39, with the depths reached in 1933.
Hegelian Dialectics The philosophical concept that in
the world of ideas, change occurs as the result of a
synthesis, or coming together of opposing forces: a
given idea (thesis), when challenged by a new and
opposing idea (antithesis), results in a new concept
(synthesis) which is somewhat closer to the truth than
the initial two ideas.
Historical
Materialism Marx's
economic
interpretation of history, which stresses economics as
the basis for all human actions and historical events.
The Hundred Days The period of remarkable
cooperation
between
President
Roosevelt
and
Congress, beginning with a special session on March
9, 1933, when the basic measures of "Relief,
Recovery, and Reform" were enacted into law.
Imperialism The extension of authority, or control, of
one nation over another.
Industrial Revolution The transition from the stable
agricultural and commercial society of the Western
world to the modern industrialized society; the second
stage of capitalism.
Iron Law of Wages Labor's wages must remain at
the subsistence level, or natural price, because of the
worker's tendency to produce more children. (David
Ricardo)

Mercantilism The
doctrine
which
dominated
European economic policies from 1500 until the
advent of laissez faire through a program which
stressed that the real wealth of a nation resulted from
its stores of gold and silver, which could be acquired
by an excess of exports to imports, self-sufficiency of
the nation, and exploitation of colonies.
Monopoly Literally, "single seller"; an economic
situation in which one firm controls an entire market.
Neo-Malthusianism A name originally denoting birth
control.
The New Deal Social and economic reforms carried
out by President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933
and 1939 to combat the Great Depression.
Patron Saint of Free Enterprise Adam Smith.
Personal Distribution The division of income among
individuals.
Physical Distribution The process of getting goods
and services into the hands of consumers.
Physiocrats A group of thinkers during the Age of
Enlightenment who opposed mercantilism, believing
instead that the true source of wealth derives from
land and agriculture; they advocated the doctrine of
laissez faire.
Plausible Capitalism A capitalistic system
perpetually renews itself through growth.

that

Preanalytic Creative; predicting change.

Production The process of creating the goods or
services to be consumed.

Labor Human effort.

Proletariat Lowly wage earners, or workers.
Laissez Faire Literally, "let [it] function" the
economic doctrine founded by Quesnay and the
Physiocrats and expounded by Adam Smith, stressing
no governmental interference in the operations of the
market economy.
Land Natural resources.
Malthusian Doctrine Thomas Malthus' thesis that
population, unless checked, grows at a greater rate
than the means of subsistence and will result in
starvation.
Management The
planning,
direction of production.

coordination,

and

Marxism Communism according to the exact words

and predictions of Karl Marx.

Prophet of the Proletariat Karl Marx.

The Protestant Reformation (l500-1648) a time
period encouraging enterprise and the investment of
capital; a philosophical outgrowth which made interest
and profit respectable.
The Renaissance (1350-1600) the era which saw
the decay of a restrictive religious spirit in favor of a
spirit of skepticism and inquiry.
Robber Barons Unscrupulous titans of U.S. finance
and industry, including Jay Gould, Jim Fisk, and
Cornelius Vanderbilt. The term was derived from the
title of a book by Matthew Josephson.
The Scientific Revolution (1500-1700) the period
of scientific experimentation and discovery which laid
the foundation for the Industrial Revolution.

Scientific Socialism What Marx and Engels called the

ideas contained in The Communist Manifesto andDas
Kapital; scientific laws explaining the economic
determination of history, class struggle, and the
inevitable downfall of capitalism with the eventual
triumph of workers over the moneyed class.
Socialism State ownership of the means of
production, which is obtained through peaceful
evolution without loss of personal liberty; the
nationalization of all land and minerals, public
transportation, trade, and banking, as well as factories
with the profits going to the people as a whole
rather than to capitalists or landlords.
Technocracy Government run by technical experts,
with money replaced by work units of currency.

Utopia A
name
which
classifies
any
social,
intellectual, or political scheme which is impractical at
the time when it is conceived. Also, a reference to
ideal states peopled by perfect human beings.
Utopian Socialists Reformers inspired by the Age of
Enlightenment and the French Revolution who
believed in progress and human perfectibility. Because
these theorists wished to reform society by voluntary
means, they earned the scorn of Karl Marx, who
dismissed them as visionary idealists and labelled
them "utopian socialists."
The Victorian Age The period associated with the
reign of Queen Victoria of Great Britain, 1837-1901.
Worldly Philosophers Philosophers
themselves with economics.

who

concern