Economic+System

=Introduction and Task=

** B y** around 1000 BCE, civilizations across Eurasia (Europe and Asia continents), parts of Africa, South and North America had highly developed economies. People in empires and civilizations across the world produced, traded, and bought hundreds of items for their own personal use or for business related activities. Coins, cash, and systems of credit sustained larger empires and the diverse peoples that lived within its boundaries. Trading emerged as a system where empires became connected and exchanged cultural practices and beliefs, along with the goods they were sharing.

Your client, **Monty Burns**, is a hedge fund manager and interested in the economic system of Han Dynasty China and Imperial Rome. Mr. Burns has helped many of his clients amass large fortunes and is well known on Wall Street. A proponent of free trade, Mr. Burns and his associates have invested heavily in foreign companies with low labor costs.To help Mr. Burns decide which empire he should travel back in time to visit, you'll need to research the role of the ecnomy in both dynasties, noting how they were alike and different, and present your key findings on the following questions:

**Key Questions**
 * 1) What type of economy did the Han Dynasty and Roman Empire posses?
 * 2) What were the major products or goods produced in each place?
 * 3) How did the economy run? How did people buy or trade products?
 * 4) What types of jobs did people have in the economies of Rome and China?
 * 5) What other civilizations or empires did Rome and China trade with?
 * 6) Which empire should Mr. Burns, an investment banker, visit? Why?

The answers to these questions will culminate in creating a travel poster for each of the two empires. Each poster should be attractive, persuasive, and highlight the major features related to your topic. You will create the posters using Glogster.edu (instructions will be provided in class) and they should contain the following components:

__**Travel Poster Components**__
 * 1) One Glogster.edu poster for each dynasty
 * 2) At least three "must see" tourist features with detailed text and relevant images for each dynasty
 * 3) At least one audio recording on each poster

The oral presentation is your opportunity to share your posters, explain whether your client should visit Han China or the Roman Empire, and should follow these guidelines:
 * 1) Less than three minutes in length
 * 2) Should address/explain the "must see" features of each dynasty
 * 3) Should explain which destination the client should visit and why

=Background= = =
 * B efore** you begin the research process, read the following brief overviews from Wikipedia to get a sense of the economic systems in Han China and Imperial Rome:

The Han Dynasty was an [|age of economic prosperity], and saw a significant growth of the [|money economy] first established during the [|Zhou Dynasty] (c. 1050–256 BCE). [|The coinage] issued by the central government [|mint] in 119 BCE remained the standard coinage of China until the [|Tang Dynasty] (618–907 CE). To pay for its military campaigns and the settlement of newly conquered frontier territories, the government [|nationalized] the private salt and iron industries in 117 BCE. These government monopolies were repealed during the Eastern Han period, and the lost revenue was recouped through heavily taxing [|private entrepreneurs].
 * Han China Economy**

The widespread circulation of coin cash allowed successful merchants to invest money in land, empowering the very social class the government attempted to suppress through heavy commercial and property taxes.[|[200]] Emperor Wu even enacted laws which banned registered merchants from owning land, yet powerful merchants were able to avoid registration and own large tracts of land.[|[201]] The small landowner-cultivators formed the majority of the Han tax base; this revenue was threatened during the latter half of Eastern Han when many peasants fell into debt and were forced to work as farming tenants for wealthy [|landlords].[|[202]] The Han government enacted reforms in order to keep small landowner-cultivators out of debt and on their own farms. These reforms included reducing taxes, temporary remissions of taxes, granting loans and providing landless peasants temporary lodging and work in [|agricultural colonies] until they could recover from their debts.[|[203]] Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Dynasty#Economics

Ancient Rome commanded a vast area of land, with tremendous natural and human resources. As such, Rome's economy remained focused on [|farming] and trade. Agricultural [|free trade] changed the Italian landscape, and by the 1st century BC, vast [|grape] and [|olive] estates had supplanted the [|yeoman] farmers, who were unable to match the imported grain price.
 * Roman Economy**

The economy of the early Republic was largely based on smallholding and paid labor. However, foreign wars and conquests made [|slaves] increasingly cheap and plentiful, and by the late Republic, the economy was largely dependent on [|slave labor] for both skilled and unskilled work. Slaves are estimated to have constituted around 20% of the Roman Empire's population at this time and 40% in the city of Rome. Only in the Roman Empire, when the conquests stopped and the prices of slaves increased, did hired labor become more economical than slave ownership. Although [|barter] was used in ancient Rome, and often used in tax collection, Rome had a very developed [|coinage] system, with [|brass], [|bronze], and [|precious metal] coins in circulation throughout the Empire and beyond—some have even been discovered in [|India]. Before the 3rd century BC, [|copper] was traded by weight, measured in unmarked lumps, across [|central Italy]. The original [|copper coins] (//[|as]//) had a face value of one [|Roman pound] of copper, but weighed less. Thus, Roman money's utility as a unit of exchange consistently exceeded its [|intrinsic value] as metal. After [|Nero] began debasing the silver [|denarius], its [|legal] value was an estimated one-third greater than its intrinsic. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome#Economy = =

=The Research Process= Deciding which dynasty your client would be most interested in visiting may seem like a complicated task, but the Big6 can help you organize your research efforts. As you work through the assignment, keep each of the following steps in mind. If you need help, simply follow the hyperlink for more information:

Step 2: Information Seeking Strategies Step 3: Location and Access Step 4: Use of Information Step 5: Synthesis Step 6: Evaluation**
 * Step 1: Task Definition

=Project Workspace= Each student researching this topic will have a project workspace for documenting his/her research and posting the travel brochure. All work related to the project should be maintained there:

Economy Student Template DO NOT EDIT THIS PAGE Robert F Brick S Larenz T Hayden M Maheen Q Melissa G Meredith B