The Affordable Care Act (ACA) encouraged states to expand their eligibility for Medicaid by providing government subsidies to those states that participated. The subsidies awarded were for the first few years of Medicaid expansion.

1. Explain this process of Medicaid expansion as a result of the ACA.

2. Identify those states that did not expand their Medicaid programs. Choose one state and provide an explanation of why they did not expand their Medicaid program with your opinion as to whether you agree with the state’s decision. Defend your position.

Justify your answers with research and reasoning.

In Florida, it is against the law to sell essential commodities like food, water, ice, chemicals, and petroleum products at "unconscionable prices" during states of emergency.

This law, and laws like it in many other states or municipalities, are often referred to as anti-price gouging laws.

A) Based on the resources provided in the course, do such laws exacerbate shortages?

B) Do such laws make it easier for people to hoard or buy more than they need during states of emergency?

C) should businesses be allowed to raise prices on essential commodities?

7. According the critical theory perspective, the main cause of the abuses by MCN’s lies in which of the following?

A. The lagging technological level of developing countries

B. the corrupt local government protect the interest of the MCN’s

C. The greedy owners/capitalists of the MCN’s do not care

D. The global system itself is exploitive

8. Which of the following is the critical theory’s understanding of Western development?

A. Modernization normally means Westemization

B. Other countries cannot develop like Western countries because geography and demography appear to favor the Western countries

C. It is not a product of Western ideas, institutions, and competition, but rather a consequence of the systematic exploitation of other countries.

D. Other countries have to implement the Western rules and institutions of specialization

9. Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons that the realist perspective attributes for the ascendance of Europe?

A. Europeans have a unique religion

B. European population grew vigorously which made the Europeans to explore more space to grow grain and raise animals.

C. Europe had a large choice of wild plants and animals available for domestication.

D. Europe had the decentralized competition for “ships and firepower”

10. According to the world systems theory, a division of labor exists between different groups of states. Which of the following states produce most of the leading products, which enjoy an initial monopoly?

A. Semi-peripheral states

B. Core states

C. Developing states

D. Peripheral states

Choose any quote on this reading below and explain.

I. Major Themes and Causal Mechanisms "State Power and the Structure of International Trade" operates simul taneously on three levels. Its first sentences announce a program for the revival of the state in studies of international relations: "In recent years, students of international relations have multinationalized, transnation 1 Krasner, "State Power and the Structure of International Trade," World Politics 28 (April 1976). This content downloaded from 146.96.128.36 on Thu, 28 Aug 2014 15:04:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 152 WORLD POLITICS alized, bureaucratized and transgovernmentalized the state until it has virtually ceased to exist as an analytic construct_This perspective is at best profoundly misleading" (p. 317). Krasner s rhetoric is dazzling: the core subject matter of political sci ence is threatened and must be recovered. "State Power" sounds the ral lying cry for the defenders of the state. People who look to the state for redress of market unfairness, scholars whose human capital is invested in understanding how states work, and Hobbesian skeptics suspicious of visions of efficiency and harmony can all rally around the statist stan dard. Teaching and writing on this theme in the mid-1970s, after the defeat of the United States in Vietnam, Krasner helped to launch a counterwave of renewed interest in the state against the trends empha sizing economic interdependence, transnational relations, "ungov ernability," and the states alleged economic irrelevance. Leading economists had been more impressed with the advantages of multina tional firms over states. Not long before Krasner wrote, Charles Kindle berger had proclaimed that "the nation-state is just about through as an economic unit."2 Even political scientists sympathetic to the transna tionalist research agenda recoiled from such rhetoric. It was Krasners counterrhetoric that energized a statist reaction?and it mattered little that his article nowhere defines "the state"; contests over definitions also became part of the subsequent scholarly debate. Some of the appeal of "State Power" derives from its clear specifica tion of 2l puzzle. Puzzles are central to social science, and Krasner s puz zle is an important one. Why, he asks, has the world economy vacillated between openness and closure? To clarify this issue, Krasner carefiilly defines the continuum between openness and closure. While acknowl edging the significance of movements of capital, labor, and technology, he focuses on trade. He argues that openness or closure in the structure of international trade can be operationalized by examining tariff levels, trade as a proportion of national product, and the regionalization or globalization of trade. Krasner does not merely present an important puzzle; he provides a way to measure the dependent variable that he has identified. Thus he lays out the basis for a focused research program. "State Power" also advances a strong proposition, as stated above, that hegemonic ascendancy tends to create openness. Indeed, Krasner pro posed a set of explanatory variables?position in the world political economy, defined in terms of size, level of development, and changes in 2 Kindleberger, American Business Abroad: Six Lectures on

Oxidation states are important for keeping track of electrons in oxidation-reduction reactions. Here are some general rules to remember:

In most cases, oxygen has an oxidation state of −2.

Group 1 and group 2 elements on the periodic table have +1 and +2 oxidation states, respectively.

In most cases, hydrogen has an oxidation state of +1.

Many elements can have more than one oxidation state. In such cases, use the other elements in the compound whose oxidation states are known to determine the oxidation state of the element that varies.

Neutral compounds In a neutral compound, the sum of the oxidation states is zero. Note that the sign of the oxidation states and the number of atoms associated with each oxidation state must be considered. In H2O, for example, each hydrogen atom has an oxidation state of +1 and each oxygen atom has an oxidation state of −2 for a total of 2(+1)+(−2)=0.

Part A) What is the oxidation state of an individual carbon atom in CaCO3?

Express the oxidation state numerically (e.g., +1).

Part B) What is the oxidation state of an individual nitrogen atom in KNO3?

Express the oxidation state numerically (e.g., +1).

In an ion, the sum of the oxidation states is equal to the overall ionic charge. Note that the sign of the oxidation states and the number of atoms associated with each oxidation state must be considered. In OH−, for example, the oxygen atom has an oxidation state of −2 and the hydrogen atom has an oxidation state of +1, for a total of (−2)+(+1)=−1.

Part C) What is the oxidation state of an individual phosphorus atom in PO33−?

Express the oxidation state numerically (e.g., +1).

Topic:
How would you explain the finding that people in high-income economies seem happier than people in low-income economies, but, over time, people in high-income economies do not seem to be any happier even if their country grows richer? Briefly discuss.

Optional Reading:

Income and Happiness

The Declaration of Independence in 1776 identified “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” This did not guarantee happiness but did establish the pursuit of happiness as an “unalienable” right, meaning that right cannot be taken away, given away, or sold. Eighteenth century philosopher and social reformer Jeremy Bentham argued that government policy should promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

Many people today apparently agree. In recent polls, 77 percent of Australians and 81 percent of Brits believed that a government's prime objective should be promoting the greatest happiness rather than the greatest wealth. The United Nations in 2007 sponsored an international conference on “Happiness and Public Policy.” Thailand now compiles a monthly Gross Domestic Happiness Index. Even China has joined in the fun reporting a happiness index based on polling results about living conditions, income, the environment, social welfare, and employment. Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom are also developing happiness indexes.

Economists have long shied away from asking people how they feel, preferring instead to observe their behavior. But more now see some value in asking questions. In the most extensive of polls, the Gallup organization asked people in 130 countries: “How satisfied are you with your life, on a scale of zero to ten?” The results, reported in 2007, are not surprising. Most people in the high income areas, such as the United States, Europe, and Japan, said they are happy. Most people in the poor areas, especially in Africa, said they are not. Also, within a given country, income and happiness are positively related. After evaluating all the results of the Gallup world poll, Angus Deaton of Princeton concluded: “The very strong international relationship between per capita GDP and life satisfaction suggests that, on average, people have a good idea of how income, or the lack of it, affects their lives.” 8

So these results are no surprise. What does puzzle economists is that other surveys suggest that in affluent countries people do not seem any happier over time even though each generation became richer than the last. For example, in the United States, the proportion of people who say they are happy has stayed about the same despite 60 years of economic growth. In Japan, happiness responses actually declined despite a substantial increase in real income over the last 50 years.

Here are two possible explanations. First, people begin taking for granted those luxuries they most desired. For example, two generations ago color TVs, automobiles, and major appliances were luxuries, but now they are must-items for most households. Computers and flat screen HDTVs will soon move from luxuries to necessities. As each generation attains a higher standard of living, people become less sensitive to the benefits, they take them for granted, and thus they say they are no happier.

Second, research suggests that what matters is not just the absolute level of income but income relative other people in the reference group. Imagine you have a choice between (1) earning $50,000 a year while others in your reference group make $25,000 or (2) earning $100,000 a year while others make $250,000 (suppose, too, that prices remain the same, so $100,000 is double the real income of $50,000). Which would you prefer? Studies show that when people face this hypothetical choice, most pick the $50,000 option. That is, they prefer to make more than others even if that means a lower real income. Thus, if all incomes rise on average over time, this does not affect that aspect of happiness linked to one’s relative standing. As the social critic H. L. Mencken long ago observed, "A wealthy man is one who earns $100 a year more than his wife's sister's husband."

SOURCES: Daniel Gilbert, Stumbling On Happiness, (New York: Knopf, 2006); Marina Kamenev, “Rating Countries for the Happiness Factor,” Business Week, 11 October 2006; Angus Deaton, “Income, Aging, Health, and Wellbeing Around the World: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll,” Princeton Working Paper, (August 2007)

Compare the method used by the United Nations to measure of global poverty, to the method used to measure U.S poverty rate

How was the merger between United and Continental structured? Which is the survivor? Who holds what stock after the merger?

Why do Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates rank higher on the economic than on the human welfare dimension?