Month 1: Economic Foundations, Government Role, and Market Economy
Day 1:
- Scarcity and Decision Making: What is scarcity and how does it impact decision making?
Day 2:
- Economic Questions: What questions must economic systems answer?
Day 3:
- Types of Economies: How do countries answer the main economic questions? How do the economic systems compare?
Day 4:
- Market Structures: What are the characteristics of each market structure?
Day 5:
- Law of Demand: What is demand? How do changes in price affect the quantity demanded?
Day 1:
- Law of Supply: What is supply? How do changes in price affect the quantity supplied?
Day 2:
- Equilibrium Price: What is equilibrium price and how do changes in supply and demand affect it?
Day 3:
- Profit in a Market Economy: Define incentive and how does it affect what you do? Define profit and how does it influence what you do?
Day 4:
- The Business Cycle and Microeconomics: What are the phases of the business cycle? How do individuals and firms make decisions based on the economy?
Day 5:
- Macroeconomic Indicators: GDP: What is GDP? How does GDP measure the economy?
Day 1:
- Macroeconomic Indicators: Inflation: What is inflation? How is it measured? How does it impact the economy?
Day 2:
- Macroeconomic Indicator: Unemployment: What is unemployment? How is it measured? How does it impact the economy?
Day 3:
- The Fed and Monetary Policy: What is the purpose of the Federal Reserve? How does monetary policy help to stabilize and grow an economy?
Day 4:
- Fiscal Policy: How does fiscal policy help to stabilize and grow an economy?
Day 5:
- Government Intervention in the Economy: How can government regulation help or hinder market economies?
Day 1:
- Property Rights: To what extent do patents and copyrights protect creative works?
Day 2:
- Government Involvement in the Economy: Do I want the government to be involved in regulating the economy?
Day 3:
- Evaluating Government Involvement in the Economy (Day 1): How involved is the government in my everyday money?
Day 4:
- Taxes and Fees: How does the government spend my tax money?
Day 5:
- Government Services: Why and how does the government provide people with goods and services?
Materials Needed:
- Textbook or printed materials on economic concepts
- Graph paper for supply and demand curves
- Handouts on market structures and economic indicators
- Calculators for GDP and inflation calculations
- Printed articles on current economic events
- Worksheets on taxes and government services
Month Objectives:
- Understand the basics of economics, including scarcity, supply and demand, and market structures
- Analyze the role of government in developing and implementing economic stabilization policies
- Comprehend the function of macroeconomic indicators and their impact on the business cycle
- Explore the government's role in protecting property rights and regulating market activity
- Understand how taxes and fees fund government goods and services
- Develop critical thinking skills in analyzing economic policies and their effects