Teacher guide · Unit 13 of 13
Future of Finance
Technology reshaping money, and the rules written after each thing that went wrong.
- Lessons
- 5
- Reading
- 41 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.
By the end of the unit, students can
- explain how financial apps work, which banks stand behind them, and why some friction protects you
- describe where AI is really used in finance, and its limits
- explain how a card or phone payment moves, and why instant payments are hard to reverse
- explain how a blockchain works, and where it is useful and where it is oversold
- explain why most financial rules exist, and the tension between protecting people and giving them access
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.
- 13.1FinTech8 min
Frictionless is a design goal, not a virtue. Some friction exists for a reason.
- 13.2AI in finance8 min
Models learn from history. Financial crises are, definitionally, novel events.
- 13.3Digital payments8 min
Instant and irreversible is a dangerous combination.
- 13.4Blockchain, technologically9 min
An immutable ledger preserves a lie just as permanently as a truth.
- 13.5Financial regulation8 min
Almost every major regulation exists because something went badly wrong.
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.6Covered
Analyze the rights and responsibilities of buyers and sellers under consumer protection laws.
In this unit: Financial regulation
- 9.1.12.FI.4Partly covered
Research benefits and drawbacks of products offered by financial and non-financial companies (e.g., banks, credit unions, check-cashing stores, product warranty insurance).
In this unit: FinTech, How buy now, pay later makes money (Bronze stage)
Check-cashing stores are not covered.
- 9.1.12.CFR.6Partly covered
Identify and explain the consequences of breaking federal and/or state employment or financial laws.
In this unit: Anatomy of a collapse: FTX (Gold stage), Financial regulation
Questions for discussion
- “Instant and irreversible is a dangerous combination.” Describe a scam that depends on it, and how you would protect yourself or a relative.
- An AI model trained on past markets is asked to manage money through a crisis unlike any before. What could go wrong?
- Rules keep most people out of some private investments unless they are wealthy. Is that protection, or gatekeeping?