Intended for teachers of secondary school students, five lessons on consumer credit are presented. In the first lesson students identify and evaluate sources of credit, compare some of the costs and benefits of credit, and learn to apply criteria used in evaluating applications for credit. In the second lesson, students learn about two basic types…

Much news reporting done on economic matters is uninformed and, in some cases, misleading. What has led to this state of affairs is discussed, and possible strategies economists and economic educators might adopt to bring about improvement are suggested. (Author/RM)

The principle of the multiplier-accelerator interaction is explained, and how a computer program to model it can be developed is shown. A series of simulations that can be used to explore the model's behavior are suggested. The simulations can be used in college-level economics classes. (Author/RM)

Most educators agree that the story of the evolution of money and banking in the United States includes many historical events that have been crucial to the nation's development. This collection of materials consists of a video, a related brochure, and a series of lesson plans about the Federal Reserve. The video provides a 14-minute introduction…

This lesson plan introduces students to the concept of supply and demand by appealing to bodily/kinesthetic intelligences. Students participate in a fitness class and then analyze the economic motives behind making an individual feel better after a fitness activity; i.e., analyzing how much an individual would pay for a drink and snack after a…

This book opens with an exploration of the fundamental trilogy of economics - scarcity, choice, and cost. Students then examine the broad social goals of an economy in preparation for lessons treating many topics new to the precollege level such as the stock market, public choice, and aggregate supply and demand. The set of 20 lessons include: (1)…

This grade 12 lesson provides students with an understanding of real world investing and of the effects of day to day decisions on their financial futures. The lesson is based on a fictitious situation in which a financial management consultant (the student) must help a new widow with young children put her finances in order after her husband's…

Interest rates can significantly influence people's behavior. When rates decline, homeowners rush to buy new homes and refinance old mortgages; automobile buyers scramble to buy new cars; the stock market soars, and people tend to feel more optimistic about the future. But even though individuals respond to changes in rates, they may not fully…

Many generalizations sound simple enough--for example, "strong is good, weak is bad"--but they can be confusing when talking about money. This booklet explores how the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies affect each other and how their interaction affects the individual and the economy. The booklet contains the following sections:…

Middle school students enjoy personal finance because it involves making decisions about their lives, both in the present and in the future. This teacher's guide and student workouts package consists of 17 economics lessons for students at grades 6-8 that are divided into 5 theme areas: the economic way of thinking; earning an income; saving;…

This Fall 2001-Spring 2002 newsletter provides resources and information to educators, particularly economics, history, social studies, and business educators, throughout the western district of the Federal Reserve System. The goal of the newsletter is to highlight new Federal Reserve teaching materials and resources, including Web sites,…

In this unit of study, students demonstrate a familiarity with the school's layout and the jobs people do there. The unit has students discuss jobs in the community and match simple descriptions of the work with the names of related jobs and with the equipment required for the jobs. They also compare and contrast jobs of today with jobs of long…

A better understanding of economics enables people to understand the forces that affect them every day and helps them identify and evaluate the consequences of private decisions and public policies. Learning how to reason about economic issues is important also because the analytic approach of economics differs in key respects from approaches…

Discusses issues related to short-run marginal cost and long-run marginal cost in economic theory. Asserts that few economics textbooks deal with important aspects of this concept. Includes four figures illustrating the approach suggested by the authors. (CFR)

Asserts that international trade, as compared with international finance or even international economics, is primarily an applied microeconomics field. Discusses decomposition analysis in relation to international trade and tariffs. Reports on an evaluation of the treatment of this topic in eight college-level economics textbooks. (CFR)