Karen Gardner

Professor Howell
E-Portfolio
July 23, 2016
Free or Equal
1. If the government gives everybody the same freedom to work and reap
the rewards, some will do better than others. The result will be equality
of opportunity, but not equality of outcome.
2. Immigrants who arrived in the late-1800s/early 1900s found that
America was truly a land of opportunity. Describe the factors these
immigrants encountered which helped them thrive.
Immigrants found that in America there was hope. America was a land
where their hard work and talents would make a difference in their
lives. Immigrants found a free market system with no licenses or
permits, there were few rules and regulation and no red tape to restrict
individuals from using their abilities, enterprise, and hard work to open
a business for themselves. America was full of opportunity to not on
survive, but to thrive as never before.
3. Although Hong Kong has no prospects, not natural resources & little
land that could be cultivated, it became an economic powerhouse.
How?
Due to the fact that the British didnt really care or have time to rule
over the people, gave the Honk Kong governor the ability to direct the
free market system, which he favored. Honk Kong didnt introduce
government policies, tariffs or regulation on trade. This left the
economy to evolve in a natural way by the individuals themselves.
4. Free markets 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 have opened up their economies. In fact, average
incomes around the world have almost doubled. Globally, extreme
poverty has been more than halved since Milton Freidman did his
series in 19080. Amazingly, 730 million people have been liberated

from poverty.
5. Explain how the lead pencil & the smart phone are examples of
invisible hands.
Both the pencil & smart phone (and anything else) are interdependent
upon each other. Manufacturing businesses along with other industries
require each other for the parts required to make the end product. This
concept of having many free market industries all around the world are
what bind us together at the same time when we are in fact physically
no where near each other. This closeness, yet distance in the concept
of the invisible hand in our economy.
6. Explain the concept of creative destruction as describe in in the Free
or Equal video.
For business to keep from failing in a free market system, they must be
willing to adapt and change within their business to what the
customers want in order to stay successful. In order to change a
business, one has to be creative. Business unwilling to change will
become out dated. The products produced, may no longer be required
by customers or their society. This in turn will destroy a business.
7. Explain why are Swedish entrepreneurs the oldest in the world, as
described in the Free or Equal video?
Success was equality. Entrepreneurs has the ability to make companies
for themselves without the government interference of policies to
restrict them.
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 concentration of power, especially in the hands of a government.
They were determined to protect the citizens of the new United State
of America from that danger. And they crafted their constitution with
that in mind.
9. As Milton Friedman said, The society that puts equality before
freedom will end up with neither. The society that puts freedom before
equality will end up with a 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 finished 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 and 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. Would this differ from fair share for all economically? Why or
why not?
In regards to the economy and calculating grades in this class under
the fair share for all, I do not approve of the method. How can it be
fair when one individual produces more from their efforts than
another? The American dream is through hard work, you can become
successful and thrive, not just survive. In the end all of us would just be
equal to the worst (fill-n-the-blank) person, worker, wages, hard work,
etc. This would prove to be a disaster.
The disaster would come in many different forms. The economy would
slow down. New products would not be created without a motivation of
success and in direct conflict of basic human nature and instincts.
Humans are motivated in the workforce and classrooms by successful
competition. Heck, we have the Olympics to prove this. The entire
world of supreme athletes meet to beat the person next to them. It is
by this self-motivation to be successful that give purpose, drive and
motivation to get out of bed in the morning. Look the economy where
the government in enabling individuals to survive by providing money,
food, etc. to them in unhealthy proportions. This lack of motivation and
purpose generates laziness and lack of creativity required to survive in
this world. This has been linked to health issues such as depression
and obesity. How fair or equal is that?
I work hard for what I have. I enjoy the rewards from my hard work. I

have the freedom to choose if I want to share that wealth with others
or not. In my lifetime, I have been on many group projects where some
do more work than others, but all get the credit and benefit from the
success. It is hard at time to consider this fair for all. On the opposite
side, I have to be willing to accept the consequences for the lack of
effort I put into something. In the end, we all get what we deserve
through our own individual efforts, not what is given to us.

Reflective Writing
Learning Outcome #1 Students develop the knowledge and skills to
become community engaged learners and scholars.
In this coursework, I have learned how to better understand the economical,
historical and political, underpinnings of the American financial system. Ive
learned about how American economics has struggled to find a common
ground over the centuries. With immigration, slavery, presidential elections,
along with export and import tariffs have been key to generating Acts to
keep the freedom in balance as Americans move forward in economic.
Learning Outcome #2: Students develop the knowledge and skills to
work with others in a professional and constructive manner.
I believe the knowledge gained in this course will help me to develop my
professional skills and social responsibilities as a Funeral Director. By being
able draw upon the learning from this course will help me to evaluate
personal complexities from the families in need during their time of loss. In
the funeral industry, one comes across many different cultures, races, and
religions. All of these must be navigated carefully. With understanding
economics, I am able to understand and act across cultures on a standard of
professional rules and regulations of the industry while interacting
competently about funeral costs to the families to meet their needs during
the funeral process.