Nielsen, Makayla
S00561651
Business-1050-042
2/5/2013
Assignment 7
Standard Six
1. The text was written by Robert L. Heilbroner. Heilbroner was an American Economist
and a historian of economic thought. He has written about twenty book with his most
famous being The Worldly Philosophers (1953).
2. The text The Economic Revolution is about the development of the Market System and
how rather than being seen as a great progression, it was more among the appearance of a
Revolution.
3. The text was written in the year of 1953. Major events going on around the world at that
time were: Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay successfully scaled the ascent to the
top of Mount Everest, the Korean war ended, Stalin passed away, and Dwight D.
Eisenhower became president of the United States.
4. The text was written in the United States. One of the major ideas that was brought about
during this time was the Polio Vaccine. Before this Franklin D. Roosevelt developed the
March of Dimes to help fight against Polio.
5. The text is relevant to the study of modern business because it discusses how some
businesses rather than looking out for the good of the people are looking for only
individual gain and yet we continue to work as a society. It discusses how the market
system isn’t as old as well think and how it developed shortly after the renaissance
period.
6. My educational standards on this reading were limited. Much of the chapter I had to reread to fully contemplate what was being said. I understood the literature fully, but found
the information confusing. The reading made me feel that I will further develop my
understanding of Critical Thinking in business but first I have to understand how the
Market System was developed.
Questions 1-22
1. Why does Heilbroner assume the reader knows that man came down from the trees?
a. Heilbroner assumes the reader knows that man came down from trees because
Darwinism is the theory of evolution. Homo Sapiens (or man) are believed to
have been evolved from the primate family and thus why we would come down
from trees.
2. Explain the sole reason man has succeeded in perpetuating himself at all.
a. Because man is a socially cooperative creature.
3. Which is more conducive to survival of the species, self-centeredness or cooperation?
a. Cooperation is more conducive to the survival of the species because rather than
relying on oneself, individuals work as a community to progress forward.
4. Explain the conflict between self-centeredness ( profit seeking) and cooperation (Social
responsibility)
a. Profit seeking self -centeredness only benefits an individual and social
responsibility cooperation benefits society as a whole. Rather than searching for
the greatest gain, cooperation searches for the greater good of the community. The
conflict thus resides within the benefits of an individual against the benefits of the
society.
5. Discuss why modern society’s existence hangs by a hair.
a. Modern society’s existence hangs by a hair because every day the community
faces a possible breakdown from the forces of human nature. If the intertwined
tasks of society fail to be completed then the industrial life would become
disorganized.
6. Explain each of the three methods humanity has developed to guard against social
collapse.
a. One of the methods would be passing down customs and traditions from
generation to generation. Preserving a pattern of which can be followed for sheer
survival reasons. A second method was through the rule of Authority. Rather than
debating as to which decision was best, the higher status society cracked the whip
to develop economic survival. The third method was the Market System. Through
the use of gain man was lured into steeling to his task in order to do what was best
for his monetary advantage.
7. Give examples of Tradition (or Custom)- based societies.
a. Some examples of a Tradition based society would be the Eskimos, and the
African hunting tribes. The pure need to secure its own existence will push the
society to the cooperative completion of daily labors. Searching for survival rather
than individual gain, traditions and customs are passed down from generation to
generation in order of survival.
8. List examples of societies using Authority (or Command)-based thinking to make
important decisions.
a. A couple of examples of societies using Authoritative based thinking for
important decisions would be the Russians and the Egyptians. In Egypt, the
pyramids weren’t built out of free will, but rather the crack of a whip to enforce
the building of the pharaoh’s tomb. In Russia, the Five Year Plans of the Soviet
Union weren’t carried out because of custom or individual interest, but rather the
authority enforced to draw out these decisions.
9. If the Market system is the third method, how does it work?
a. The Market System works through the lure of gain rather than the tradition or
authority to steel each man to his task. It was simple: each man should do what
was best monetary advantage.
10. If custom and command no longer run the world, how will the dirty work of society get
done?
a. The dirty work of society was unclear as how they would be carried out. But the
question erupted of if there were no custom and command who would say where
society has to end? In order for society to continue survival there will always be
someone performing the dirty work.
11. How does the change from Custom and Command of the past to the Market Economies
of the present represent a Revolution?
a. It represents a Revolution because change of custom and command to the market
economy was a long and drawn out process. Not only did it affect just one nation,
but nations all over the globe. Also individuals had a hard time believing that the
market system was good and run for a better society. The struggle against the
evolving system was long drawn out between the church and the merchants. Thus
it would appear to have the effect of a Revolution between the two.
12. What was the view of personal gain in the interval from the fall of Rome to the end of the
Middle Ages?
a. The view of personal gain from the fall of Rome to the end of the Middle Ages
was considered sinful. If one did not work for the good of the community it was
considered treason. There was no question of self-interested gain, especially with
the Church having a fair amount of control over the society. People didn’t strive
to make a living, instead they just maintained what they were born into.
13. Comment on page 73, lines 35-40, beginning with “Hence the fact,….”
a. Heilbroner is trying to emphasize one of the great reasons that the medieval world
didn’t fully agree on the market system. Mostly because they ran on customs for
the survival of society, but because they didn’t fully comprehend the market
system they weren’t willing to develop it.
14. After the revolution how did society start to view the profit motive?
a. After the revolution, there was still hesitance towards the profit motive. But
gradually it became accepted to where new self-evident dicta began to heed.
15. Separately look up: Jakob Fugger of Augsburg, The Hanseatic League, The Medici, and
Jacques Cour the Medieval Merchant Prince and briefly explain how the Renaissance
meant the rise of personal gain.
a. The Renaissance brought about further development of personal gain. Some
leaders of the development were: Jakob Fugger, The Hanseatic League, The
Medici, and Jacques Cour. Fugger, Cour, and The Medici were powerful
merchants with vast amounts of wealth. The Hanseatic League was a league of
merchants who traveled together and had greater gain. Also with the less spiritual
view of life and enveloping more of the realistic world, it was easier to engross in
the thought of personal gain.
16. Look up the republics of Venice, Florence, Genoa and Lucca and then comment on the
relationship between business, trade and political freedom.
a. The relationship between business, trade, and political freedom is one of personal
gain and wealth. If you were a merchant or of wealthy prospects, business and
trade were in your nature. Through having great wealth one would gain political
freedom by being considered as one with a vast amount of power.
17. Explain why the Market System must understand the relationship between land, labor and
capital.
a. The Market System must understand the relationship between land, labor, and
capital because they are all “agents” of production. They are viewed as
impersonal, dehumanized economic entities.
18. Explain the meaning of enclosure.
a. The meaning of enclosure in this stance is that it was the eradication of having
land as a community and turning it into the private property of a sole individual.
19. How did the decay of religious spirit contribute to the rise of Capitalism, and the Market
system?
a. As life on earth became more important, so did the views on material standards.
As the religious spirit decayed, Protestantism sprang up which brought about new
attitudes towards work and wealth.
20. How did scientific curiosity become the most important factor contributing to the
Economic Revolution?
a. Through the birth of a host of inventions, the idea of invention took hold. For the
first time, experimentation and innovation were viewed over as a beneficiary
possibility.
21. Why would early Mercantilists say “we must keep the poor, poor”?
a. By keeping the poor poor, the Mercantilists ensured that the worker’s would give
an honest day’s work without asking for raises. Thus providing them with a
greater personal gain.
22. Why do you suppose some would call Adam Smith the Antichrist, while others refer to
him as the father of The New World Order?
a. Smith could be seen as the antichrist by way of not giving much thought to the
Church or towards religious spirit. Instead viewing him as the father of The New
World Order is more likely. Smith just stated what he saw in the world and gave
man what it was searching for. They saw how every task fitted into the benefits of
all society and that society was progressing.
15 Vocabulary
1. Amalgamation
a. The mixing or blending of different elements, races, societies, etc.
2. Eulogizing
a. To speak or write in commendation of another
3. Pervasiveness
a. Having power to spread throughout
4. Parcel
a. A portion of anything taken separately
5. Dispossessed
a. Physically or spiritually homeless or deprived of security
6. Submarginal
a. Falling below a necessary minimum
7. Chrysalis
a. The pupa state of a butterfly
8. Asunder
a. Separate from each other
9. Entrenched
a. To establish in a position from which dislodgement is difficult.
10. Feudal
a. Consisting of feuds or fiefs.
11. Paternalism
a. The theory or practice of paternal government
12. Subversive
a. Having a tendency to overthrow and ruin
13. Calico
a. Printed with a figured pattern
14. Yeomanry
a. A British volunteer cavalry force, growing out of royal regiment of fox hunters
raised by Yorkshire gentlemen in 1745 to fight the Pretender, Charles Edward.
15. Salability
a. The quality or condition of being salable.
Works Cited

"The Year 1953 From The People History." What Happened in 1953 Inc. Pop Culture,
Prices and Events. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2013.

"Webster Dictionary." Webster Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2013.

"Jakob Fugger." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 June 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2013.

"THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE." THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb.
2013.

PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2013.

"Jacques Cœur." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2013.

Heilbroner, Robert L. "The Economic Revolution." Critical Thinking, Readings from the
Literature of Business and Society. By Edward G. Engh. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 65-83. Print.