this is david schoumacher for economics usa.annenberg/cpb project captioning performed by the national captioning institute, inc. captions copyright 1986 educational film center

for economics usa, this is david schoumacher.nberg/cpb project captioning performed by the national captioning institute, inc. captions copyright 1986 educational film center annenberg media ♪ for information about this and other annenberg media programs call 1-800-learner and visit us at www.learner.org.

this is david schoumacher.enberg media ♪ ford's model t seemed like the perfect car. it never wore out, never went out of style. how could it be beat? the tva and other electric companies bought hundreds of mlions of dollars worth of eipment every year. what lengths would the manufacturers of this equipment go to to make sure that the price was right? for 40 years, regulation protected the airline industry from the hazards of competition. have 25 years of deregulation been an improvement? to paraphrase calvin coolidge, the business of america is big business.

i'm david schoumacher. united states has always been blessed with vast natural resources, including some things we used to take for granted, like fresh water and clean, healthy air. but not any longer. in the past few decades, we've learned that industrial activity carries with it a substantial environmental price tag. if we want fresher water and healthier air, somebody is going to have to pay for it, as we found in the tiny town of silver bay, on the shores of lake superior. 30 years ago, this part of minnesota was practically a wilderness area. then, shortly after world war ii, some farsighted entrepreneurs decided there was money to be made in a rock called taconite, found here in abundance, near the famous mesabi iron range. they called their venture the reserve mining company. ruth erickson remembers the early days, before the trouble started. anybody that came here to work was in -- [ dog barks ] shush! -- was in bad shape economically. and reserve built the town, they furnished us with our medical f

this is david schoumacher. august 9, 1999. i was raped.ost a sense of security. victim assistance helped me with counseling. they helped me write a victim impact statement, and because of that, my rapist got 20 years. with the right help, you can move on with your life.

i'm david schoumacher. can see the forces that control a farm's economic wellbeing at work here at this farmers' market. taken together, it demonstrates a concept that economists call "perfect competition." in other words, every farmer who raises, say, tomatoes, is in competition with every other farmer who raises tomatoes. the market determines the price through the interplay of supply and demand. so the farmer is a "price taker," not a "price maker," and he tries to produce at the lowest possible cost and produce as much as he can as long as he can turn a profit. at the beginning of the 20th century, the farms felt secure in their calling as they toiled to supply all the foods a growing nation demanded. so why, just 20 years later, were so many farmers forced to leave the land? their problems began with the entry of the united states into world war i. president woodrow wilson challenged the nation's farmers to dramacally increase food production. "food will win the war," he told them. announcer: wheat wil