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Standard 4:  Economics - Intermediate

1. The study of economics requires an understanding of major economic concepts and systems, the principles of economic decision making, and the interdependence of economies and economic systems throughout the world.

Students:

• explain how societies and nations attempt to satisfy their basic needs and wants by utilizing scarce capital, natural, and human resources
• define basic economic concepts such as scarcity, supply and demand, markets, opportunity costs, resources, productivity, economic growth, and systems
• understand how scarcity requires people and nations to make choices which involve costs and future considerations
• understand how people in the United States and throughout the world are both producers and consumers of goods and services
• investigate how people in the United States and throughout the world answer the three fundamental economic questions and solve basic economic problems
• describe how traditional, command, market, and mixed economies answer the three fundamental economic questions
• explain how nations throughout the world have joined with one mother to promote economic development and growth.

• investigate how different countries in Europe and the Middle East solve problems related to satisfying basic needs. Compile a list of available resources, industries, modes of transportation, and economic problems
• define and apply basic economic concepts such as supply and demand, price, market, and economic growth in an investigation of a national or regional economic question or problem
• understand the concept of opportunity cost (the highest valued alternative not chosen) and how the concept applies to personal and business decision making
• consider case studies comparing economic decisions and choices made by groups and nations involving questions about scarce resources
• compare basic economic systems throughout the world, classifying them as traditional, command, market, or mixed. Focus on questions such as: What is produced? How is it produced, distributed, and consumed? Which natural, capital, and human resources are available? How are prices set? What is meant by economic growth?
• identify the basic ideas and values of the United States economic system (e.g., individual entrepreneurship, private ownership of property, laissez-faire economics, cheep labor supply, free enterprise, monopolies, and governmental regulation) and how these factors contributed to the American economic system; compare these ides and values to those of other economic systems
• define and apply the concepts of inflation, deflation, depression. fiscal policies, and monetary policy in the context in which these terms are used; examine the historical context of at least one of these concepts during an important event in United States history (e.g., industrialization of America and the rise of the labor movement, the Great Depression, the 1970s inflation)
• develop a case study of a New York-produced product to show how the State participates in a world economy

investigate the economy of the United States and determine how decisions are made about what goods and services are to be produced, and how they are distributed; compare how these decisions are made in other countries; identify the major imports/exports of the country and explain the effects of international trade on the American and other national economies; discuss how values may influence the economy.
 

Students:

• identify and collect economic information from standard reference works, newspapers, periodicals, computer databases, textbooks, and other primary and secondary sources
• organize and classify economic information by distinguishing relevant from irrelevant information, placing ideas in chronological order, and selecting appropriate labels for data
• evaluate economic data by differentiating fact from opinion and identifying frame of reference
• develop conclusions about economic issues and problems by creating broad statements which summarize findings and solutions
• present economic information by using media and other appropriate visuals such as tables, charts, and graphs to communicate ideas and conclusions.

• research a number of economic conditions (e.g., availability of resources, size and distribution of population, degree of technology, political structure) about a particular nation in Europe, Africa, or the Middle East
• organize economic information about different kinds of economic systems (i.e., traditional, market, command) in terms of what to produce, how to produce it, and for whom to produce the product
• investigate different societies and groups living in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East to determine their available resources, industries, and problems in meeting basic needs. List alternative ways to resolve their economic problems and evaluate the effectiveness of each proposed solution
• design a class-size mural that shows how people living in Europe, Asia, and Africa produce and consume various resources, goods, and services. Indicate how these ways of making a living have changed over time
• research a major United Sates industry such as steel, automobile, mining, farming, or banking to determine the governmental controls placed on it either directly or indirectly. Determine the extent to which the federal government interacts with and controls these industries

prepare a classroom questionnaire that asks the historical/economic question: What makes a nation an industrial leader? Survey adults to determine their opinions on the question, categorize the findings, and draw conclusions.