1. What is a public good and why do states provide public goods rather than the market?
2. What are the ways the state control money supply in an economy? Why is the appropriate level of money supply important for healthy economy?
3. What tools do states use in regulating trade with other states? What political-economic systems are most and least likely to impose strict regulations on trade?
4. In what key ways does social democracy differ from liberalism? In what ways is it similar?
5. What is mercantilism? What are its strengths and drawbacks? Is mercantilism more suited for developing countries? Why or why not?
6. What are the relative benefits and drawbacks of using purchasing power parity (PPP), the Gini index, and the Human Development Index to measure relative wealth and inequality across countries?
7. Overall levels of economic liberalization are on the rise during the last few decades, appearing to indicate that liberalism is the preferred political-economic system. But what qualifications are important to this assessment?
