Reference no: EM133124080

1. Marx argued that the return to capital investments declines as the amount of capital increases. As capital accumulates over time, the owners of capital face lower returns unless they can use labor more intensively or lower wages to maintain their profit margins. Marx believed that this tension between capital and labor would lead to the collapse of capitalism. However, much of the capital in Marx's time was durable capital (e.g., buildings, machinery, etc.) that depreciated slowly, but much of the capital that modern economies use is intangible (e.g., human skills, intellectual property like patents, and computer software) and has a shorter useful life. How does this change in the durability of capital affect the tension between capital and labor?

2. What is the most important drawback associated with market capitalism, and how would you resolve this problem if you were empowered to do so?

3. Please describe the major types of socialism that evolved from Marxist ideology. In which ways are they similar, and in which ways do they differ? Please explain your responses.

4. One key problem with planned socialism is the huge amount of information required to coordinate production across industries. For this reason, many planned socialist economies transitioned to market socialism over time. What impact would this transition have on the performance of these economies with regard to economic output, macro stability, and income distribution? Please explain your responses.

5. The concentration of wealth and inequalities in the distribution of income have always been important public policy issues for the US economy, but the intensity of interest in these issues has varied over time. These issues became very prominent in the late 1800's and early 1900's, in the 1920's and 1930's, in the 1960's and 1970's, and at the present time. Some prominent US politicians have proposed a new tax to be imposed on the assets of the wealthiest members of society in order to reduce income and wealth inequality. How would a wealth tax affect the real per-capita growth, macro stability, and income distribution of the US economy?

Reference: Rosser Jr, J. B., & Rosser, M. V. (2018). Comparative economics in a transforming world economy. Mit Press.