1. Make a list of the chief human wants that existed a thousand years ago. Also a list of the principal human wants of the United States today. Name the ones that are freely satisfied by nature.
2. What is meant by “economic goods”? Which of the following things are economic goods, and which are not: a phonograph record; opium; the sunken Lusitania; a silver dollar; a Liberty bond; electricity; Mr. Bryan’s skill as an orator; desert land in the middle of Africa; weeds in a wheat field; a wide acquaintance among business men; a ten dollar bill; a public park; a band concert; keen eyesight; a cask of rum? Give your reasons in each case.
3. Give some examples of the production of economic goods (a) without the use of labor or capital; (b) with labor but without capital; (c) with capital but without labor.
4. Explain what one would mean by speaking of the “productive consumption of wealth”. Give some examples.
5. Is division of labor carried as far in agriculture as in industry? Are the evils of division of labor as great in country districts as in towns and cities? What remedies would you suggest to counterbalance the monotony of industrial labor?
6. Which of the various productive factors are most important in (a) sheep raising; (b) banking; (c) the coining of money; (d) training a brass band; (e) selling newspapers on the street?
7. How would you estimate the ground rent of a piece of land, situated on the main business street of a large city, with a store built upon it?
8. Would an increase in the price of wheat lead to a rise in the general rate of rental paid for farm land or would a rise in the general rate of rental cause the price of wheat to go up?
9. Why is there more capital in the United States than in China although the population of China is three times as large?
10. If all payment of interest were forbidden by law, would people continue to save? If not, why does saving sometimes increase when the rate of interest goes down?