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Teacher guide · Unit 10 of 13

Economics

The forces above any single company: growth, interest rates, government spending, and recessions.

Lessons
6
Reading
48 minutes
Unit quiz
5 questions
Class time
2 periods

Class time is a guide: 45-minute periods, with the lessons, the unit quiz and a discussion. Students can read lessons at home and take the quiz in class, or the other way round.

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By the end of the unit, students can

  • explain what GDP measures, its four parts, and what it leaves out
  • explain how the Federal Reserve moves interest rates, and why it is kept independent
  • explain fiscal policy, automatic stabilizers, and the difference between a deficit and the debt
  • describe what causes recessions, what an inverted yield curve signals, and what a recession means for a household
  • explain how people and businesses influence policy, and how to follow the money behind it

The lessons

Each ends with a one-question check, and students who pass the unit quiz can go on to three optional stages of harder lessons, for bronze, silver and gold medals.

  1. 10.1GDP8 min

    A useful thermometer that says nothing about whether the patient is happy.

  2. 10.2Monetary policy8 min

    One committee sets the price of money for the whole system.

  3. 10.3Fiscal policy8 min

    Cutting taxes is popular. The reverse is not. That asymmetry shapes everything.

  4. 10.4Federal Reserve8 min

    When your financial system depends on one man’s willingness to intervene, you have a structural problem.

  5. 10.5Recessions8 min

    Recessions are normal, every one has ended, and "eventually" has sometimes meant years.

  6. 10.6How people and businesses shape policy8 min

    Laws are written by people who heard from someone. Usually not you.

New Jersey Standard 9.1

The grade 12 expectations this unit teaches, quoted from the state’s standard. See the full alignment for every unit.

  • 9.1.12.EG.3Covered

    Explain how individuals and businesses influence government policies.

    In this unit: How people and businesses shape policy

  • 9.1.12.EG.4Covered

    Explain the relationship between your personal financial situation and the broader economic and governmental policies.

    In this unit: Monetary policy, Fiscal policy, Recessions

  • 9.1.12.EG.5Partly covered

    Relate a country’s economic system of production and consumption to building personal wealth, the mindset of social comparison, and achieving societal responsibilities.

    In this unit: GDP

    Social comparison and societal responsibilities are not covered.

Questions for discussion

  1. GDP grew last year, but plenty of people feel worse off. How can both be true?
  2. Why is the Federal Reserve set up to be independent of elected officials? What could go wrong if it weren’t, and what could go wrong because it is?
  3. Pick a local issue you care about. Who decides it, when do they meet, and how could a student be heard?

Unit quiz answer key

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