Free or Equal Questions

While watching Free or Equal, complete the following statements for questions 1-9. Use the precise language
from the video. Question 10 asks you to analyze a proposal and provide your unique perspective.
You do not need to use the same format as shown below (with boxes). Use a format which works best for
you.

1. Professor Friedman would say that economic freedom is not just to

its also to
when times are bad.
Answer #1

Reap the rewards

Answer #2

Bear the consequences of your actions

when times are good;

2. Although Hong Kong had no prospects, no natural resources & little land that could be cultivated, it became
an economic powerhouse. How?

Hong Kong:

3.

Hong Kong became an economic powerhouse as a result of being able to evolve naturally. Almost
by accident, Hong Kong was given economic freedom because the British government could not be
bothered with local affairs. The governor happened to favor free markets, so Hong Kong never
introduced policies that other governments did. No tariffs, no regulations, or government
intervention in the economy.

have spread around the world. At the same time, weve seen the fastest human progress
ever, and it has been led by the countries that
. In fact, average incomes around the
world have almost doubled. Globally, extreme poverty has been more than halved since Milton Friedman did
his series in 1980. Amazingly, 730 million people have been
.
Answer #1

Free markets

Answer #2

Opened up their economies

Answer #3

Liberated from poverty

4. Human and political freedom has never existed (and cannot exist) without a large measure of
. Those of us who have been so fortunate as to have been born in a free society tend to
to regard it as the
. It is not. It is a rare and precious thing.
Answer #1

Economic freedom

Answer #2

Take freedom for granted

Answer #3

Natural state of mankind

5. Explain the concept of creative destruction as described in the Free or Equal video.

Creative
Destruction:

When only the flexible and adaptable survive it means that other businesses fail. If we want
to increase our wealth and opportunities we have to stop doing old things in old ways and
start doing innovative things in better ways. We have to be creative. Moving forward can be
painful as old factories and shops close and people lose their jobs. That is the destructive
part. Most economists think that creative destruction is necessary for economic
development. All progress comes at a cost, market forces are both creative and destructive.
Some win and some lose and the result is inequality.

6. Explain why are Swedish entrepreneurs the oldest in the world, as described in the Free or Equal video?

Swedish
Entrepreneurs:

The average big Swedish company is 94 years old. Sweden has not had the policies to
encourage people to start the new businesses that might become tomorrows big business.
Young Swedish people and immigrants who should be the future are not starting new
businesses in Sweden. Instead, young entrepreneurs are moving to Britain or the U.S.
because the rewards are much greater there where taxes are lower.

7. Our economic system gave us Henry Ford, Thomas Alva Edison, Bill Gates & other very successful
entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs all went in with their eyes open, knew what they were doing & win or
lose, we (society) all benefited from their
.
If we did not allow these successful entrepreneurs to become incredibly rich, we would be more equal. But,
would we be better off? If entrepreneurs did not think that a possible reward for all the
,
all their
, all the
is a lot of wealth, then they might do something else instead. In
that case, we would not have the goods, services and technologies (they created) that make our lives better.
Answer #1

Willingness to take a chance

Answer #2

Sacrifices

Answer #3

Hard work

Answer #4

Risk they take

8. They (the Founding Fathers) were a wise and learned group of people. They had learned the lesson of history.
The great danger to freedom is the
, especially in the hands of a government.
They were determined to protect the citizens of the new United States of America from that danger. And they
crafted their
with that in mind.
Answer #1

Concentration of power

Answer #2

Constitution

9. As Milton Friedman said, The society that puts equality before freedom will
___________________.
The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a ____________________.
Answer #1

End up with neither

Answer #2

Great measure of both

10. Professor Friedman compares the concept of equality of opportunity to a race where everyone
begins at the starting line at the same time. In contrast, equality of outcome guarantees that
everyone finishes at the same time. Today, equality of outcome is referred to as fair shares for
all.
If we applied the fair shares for all concept in this class, all students would receive an average
grade of C. This would be accomplished by taking points away from students earning As and Bs
to give to students earning Ds and Es. Distributing points equally would result in fair grades for
all.
1. Would you approve of this method in calculating your final grade? Why or why not?
2. How would this differ from fair shares for all economically?
For example, whats the difference between a successful student being required to give up
some of his/her hard-earned grade and a successful person being expected to give more of
his/her hard-earned income? If you support redistribution of income and wealth, shouldnt
you also be willing to redistribute academic grades? After all, many of your fellow students
may not have had the advantages in education and upbringing that youve had.
3. Address the above questions in your own words, in a minimum of 3 paragraphs.

The idea of fair shares for all sounds like a very good thing on the surface. It has been
adopted by utopian societies and has even been implemented to varying degrees within the
economic systems known as communism and socialism. The concept that all shares of output
are distributed fairly to all, even when input is not equal, can be a flawed philosophy as long as
mankind is flawed and imperfect.
I for one do not want to be graded by this kind of standard. I work hard and feel that I should
be rewarded for my A level efforts. If one is only going to be rewarded with a C grade no
matter the amount of effort put into the course, then where is the incentive to work hard? I
work as a tutor at the college and believe that all students who truly have a desire to work hard
will do so, no matter extenuating circumstances or obstacles in their path. I have worked with
students who take no initiative with their studies and then wonder why they get such low
grades or in some cases fail the course.
In an economic sense, I find the fair shares for all concept to be an obstacle to economic
prosperity. I agree with Milton Friedman insomuch that the opportunity should be fair for all,
but the outcome is the reward for what you do with the opportunity. Yes, it is a good and

noble gesture to care for the poor and disadvantaged, but doing so is much more rewarding
when its voluntary and not mandated by laws and regulations. Too often government gets in
the way of real economic prosperity. Lawmakers are so busy trying to please all their
constituents that they lose sight of the bigger picture. Whats the real motivation that makes
mankind reach just a little further before asking for a handout? I believe its the freedom to
earn the greatest reward for efforts expended and not just doing a job to get by because some
invisible hand will decide who gets what reward so that everyone is equal in the end.

Reflective Writing
Compose 2-3 paragraphs explaining how completing this assignment helped you achieve at least
two (2) of the SLCC Learning Outcomes:

Learning Outcome #1
(Paragraph #1)

Learning Outcome #2
(Paragraph #2)

Think Critically & Creatively

Communicate Effectively

This assignment has been a good exercise in helping me gain experience in multiple learning
objectives set forth by the college. Two of the objectives Ive strengthened are Communicate
Effectively, and Think Critically and Creatively. Both of these learning outcomes will help me as I
move forward in pursuit of employment following graduation.
Throughout this assignment Ive had to be engaged in thinking critically about the information shared
in the video so I could not only find the answers to the questions but also be creative in how I
answered them. Putting words to my thoughts and doing so in a way that would effectively
communicate my views on this topic is an area that I struggle with. Having this kind of assignment
forces me to stretch beyond my comfort zone.
The second phase of this assignment also helped me in achieving more experience with these learning
objectives. It takes the skill of critical thinking to plan out and execute the creation of my ePortfolio
page in a way that my work can not only be showcased but also address the skill of effective
communication as I publish my page. Besides completing an assignment for a grade, by exhibiting my
work it will give future employers a chance to see more of why I can be an excellent addition to their
company.