Student Handouts
Budgets and Deficits
There's a lot to learn about the savings and loan crisis. Start off your learners with a quick reading assignment. Pupils read the brief informational article and respond to three questions about the savings and loan crisis, thrifts, and...
Curated OER
International Trade
Learners, through lecture and discussion, examine the mechanics of exchange in world markets and then at some of the issues nations face as a result of the international character of trade. They participate in an activity that...
Curated OER
Balancing the Budget
Students identify the different components that make up the federal budget. They discuss the relationship between government revenues and spending and between budget deficits and the national debt. Students predict how changes in...
Curated OER
Debt and Deficits
Learners identify, research and interpret the national debt and deficits of the past through today and why it has risen significantly in the last 20 years. They analyze the size and impacts and discuss the various policy measures for...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan on the U.S. Trade Deficit
Students examine the United States trade deficit. They examine different opinions about trade surpluses and deficits. They also identify the United States trading partners throughout the world and their concerns.
Cato Institute
Cato Institute: Sequestration: Gramm Potent Weapon for Spending Restraint
Analyzes the role of GRH Act in the federal budget process. (April 24, 1989)
Other
International Econ: A Multi Country Evaluation of Trade Imbalances
An essay that describes the economy of the United States, mainly in the 1980's. Inflation, GDP, foreign investment, the U.S. deficit and trade are all discussed. There are also graphs that further these concepts.
Other
Explaining the u.s. Trade Deficit
Discusses how the U.S. has been lowering its trade deficit. This paper is very detailed with information and graphs for the student who is familiar with global trade.
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: National Budget Simulation
How would you deal with the national budget if you were the President of the United States? What if there was a national emergency? This site includes a budget simulation on the computer that allows students to make real budget...
Other
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: The Debt Fixer
Although it's a game simulation here, in real life Congress and U.S. citizens must make hard decisions to stabilize the economy. Authors may be biased toward a certain political party, but nevertheless, the exercise in making tough...
Other
Concord Coalition
This homepage is for the Concord Coalition, a bipartisan organization founded by Senators Rudman and Tsongas in 1992 to promote a balanced federal budget, in light of the failure of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollins Act. It advocates putting the...