1. How is unemployment in the United States measured? What aspects of this phenomenon does the unemployment rate measure and what aspects does it fail to capture?

2. What effects might the expansion of automation and artificial intelligence have on the U.S. and global workforce? What evidence of the effect is available today? What sectors of the labor market may be affected in the future?

3. What are the main differences between the formal economy and the informal economy? What are the similarities? What sociological factors explain the existence of the informal economy in the United States?

4. What are the main characteristics of a socialist economic system? Where have such systems been found in recent history? What are their strengths and weaknesses?

5. What sociological factors explain the dramatic rise of consumer debt in the United States over the past three to four decades? Why should this be of concern to society and to policy makers?