POLA02H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Quid Pro Quo, Prebendary, Pork Barrel
Document Summary
Kinship ties are both rational for individual and efficient way for society to organize: bates argues that they do not trap people. Kin identifies/loyalties can be flexible & mutable: elaborate sets of customs often accompany (or reinforce) kinship ties. Arising in agrarian economies, these ties can and have adapted to new economic & social conditions: urbanization. Risk is the range (or variance) of different outcomes that can result from an investment. Savings accounts at banks pays a small amount of interest: there is little risk since your money is insured only potential downside is that inflation or exchange rates may make money worth less. Riskier investments include precious metals (gold), stocks, or expensive art work: you may lose much/all of your investment, annually, the money you make will fluctuate. Stocks, on average, increase in value 6-8% a year, but some years, investors make a lot more and some years, investors lose a lot more.
