Chapter 21

1. Subsistence     		J
2. Modified Free Enterprise     C
3. Embargo    			H
4. Gasohol    			I
5. Aquifer     			G
6. Deep Gas   			B
7. Glut         		D
8. Pollution    		F
9. Acid Rain     		E

10.The world population is growing at about a rate of 1.7 % a year. This doesn’t seem large , but over time it adds up. Every year the population increases equivalent to adding another Mexico. If the world keeps growing at this rate, the population will be about 6.3 billion by the end of the century, more than 8 billion by 2020, and nearly 15 billion by 2050. Population growth is highest in many of the countries that have the lowest standards of living. The countries with the most rapid growth are Madagascar, Libya, Niger, Botswana, Angola, Rwanda, Cameroon, Zaire, Congo, Gabon, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Syria, Cambodia, Pakistan, Iran, and Turkmenistan.

11. The three major nonrenewable resources are oil, natural gas, and coal.

12. The most restrictive issue surrounding nuclear energy is that it produces highly hazardous by-products. The safe disposal of these products poses a major problem.

13. People became much more energy conscious. Industries began to think about ways to save energy. These actions helped prolong the existing supplies of nonrenewable resources and encourage the development of new energy sources.

14. The Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t wish to end all oil drilling.  The EPA’s primary target is to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions to a level of 9 million tons per year. EPA wants to eliminate all harm done to the environment in the process of drilling oil.

15. The price system plays a major role in the allocation of resources. It tells consumers when resources are scarce. It also helps decision-makers allocate resources more wisely.

16. Economic decision making requires a careful approach to problem solving. The National Council of Economic Education recommends five steps to decision making:
1. State the problem or issue. 2. Determine the personal or broad social goals to be attained. 3. Consider the principal alternative means of achieving the goals. 4. Select the economic concepts needed to understand the problem and use them to appraise the merits of each alternative. 5. Decide which alternative best leads to the attainment of the most goals or the most important goals.
These steps provide useful guidelines to decision making. Economists use a number of tools to help them make decisions. One of the most important decision making tools is the concept of marginal analysis. When you complete the process, it is called cost-benefit analysis. It involves comparing the costs of a course of action to its benefits. Cost-benefit analysis is even used to make choices among economic goals.

17. A cost-benefit analysis would greatly benefit a textile manufacturer. It compares the cost of a course of action to its benefits. Issues such as labor, capital, and kinds of textile would be established in a cost-benefit analysis.

18. The ability of change is very important. Due to the fact that society is always changing because of technology, people must have the ability to adapt to bigger and better things. The more advanced technology becomes the more we have to change. Therefore proving that the ability to change is a necessity.

19. The major issues in fifty years will be issues of resources. America will have to develop new resources, simply because nonrenewable resources are depleting at a fast rate. Solar energy will become a major issue.