Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Pop Goes the Housing Bubble
In this instructional activity, students will learn about a speculative bubble within the context of the U.S. real estate market.
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Deceptive Advertising: Crossing the Line
Businesses use advertising to tell consumers about the goods and services they are selling. Businesses hope that their advertisements will convince people to buy their products. In this instructional activity, students examine the ground...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Phillips Curve
This lesson explores the relationship of unemployment to inflation in the 1960s and after. Young scholars will discover the short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment when unemployment is less than its natural rate. Students...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Worker Safety the Triangle Fire Legacy
Students investigate the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire tragedy and how its impact is still felt today. Students identify eerie parallels between the Triangle Fire and more recent workplace events with safety implications. How can future...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: What Does the Nation Consume?
This instructional activity will focus on what the nation consumes and how that is measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the United States, the goods and services produced for household consumption account for about two-thirds of...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: There Is Something in the Water
The United States is losing 60,000 acres of wetlands each year. Is this good or bad? Does anyone really want to live in swamps, fens, bogs, and marshes? Or is it better economics to drain the wetlands for other purposes like agricultural...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Professinoal Sports: If You Build It, Will They Come?
Special interest groups are able to have a substantial impact on the political system. Such groups can provide valuable services to individuals and to elected officials. They also can generate substantial benefits to a small minority.
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Coming and Going: Imports and Exports Throughout the World
A lesson plan and example of imports and exports, along with related classroom activities.
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: What Do People Want to Wear?
To stay in business, fashion merchandisers must be able to anticipate what consumers want. By looking at different retail websites, students will look to anticipate what consumers are demanding. Students will then go through the market...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
This lesson introduces regulation and information as two tools used by government to promote fair competition and complete information in a market economy. Using the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act as a case study, students explore the...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: The Economics of Homebuying
This lesson analyzes the costs and benefits of homeownership and asks the student to describe the factors that affect affordability, use cost-benefit analysis and knowledge of home-buying procedures to reduce the costs, analyze the...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Be an Energy Saver
This lesson focuses on the scarce and non-renewable nature of fossil fuels in order to stimulate student thinking about energy conservation. It emphasizes the fact that saving energy can be good for the wallet as well as the earth's...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Constitution Costs
This instructional activity helps learners understand the basic services provided for Americans in the United States Constitution and the necessity of a system of taxation to fund those services. Students will debate the pros and cons of...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Education: Weigh Your Options
Getting and keeping a job often requires special education or training. While an employer may provide or pay for some additional education or training, workers often have to obtain it on their own. In this lesson, students use a weighted...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Exchange Rates and Exchange: How Money Affects Trade
Students learn how currency values are set by supply and demand, and how changes in the value of currency affect international trade. Students then find the value of the Brazilian Real in 2000 and 2002, determine whether the currency has...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: National Parks: Only You Can Prevent the Coming Crisis
What do you think of when you think of the National Parks System? Do you think of the majesty of the Grand Canyon and the redwoods of Northern California? Or does the serenity of Cape Cod and the Everglades come to mind?
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: One Is Silver and the Other's Gold
Young scholars learn about the money supply and that it can affect the value of money. Students investigate this in the 1896 presidential election (Bryan vs. McKinley, Free Silver vs. Gold Standard) and examine a political cartoon that...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Should Le Bron James Mow His Own Lawn?
This lesson plan will discuss absolute advantage, comparative advantage, specialization and trade with an example using professional basketball player LeBron James.
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Specialization and the Decathlon
This lesson uses results from the 2008 Summer Olympic Games to explain that athletes specialize in sports and events for which they are most skilled for the same reasons that individuals and nations specialize in the production of goods...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: The Big Mac Index
How fast can you say "twoallbeefpattiesspecialsaucelettucecheesepicklesonionsonasesameseedbun?" This question was asked of millions of TV viewers in the now famous 1970s McDonald's television commercial promoting the Big Mac.
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: The Collapse of Corporate Giants: The New Dr. Evils?
This lesson was inspired by an article in "Fortune" magazine, "Why Companies Fail," May 27, 2002. Its focus is on the relationship of business ethics to business bankruptcy or near failure. Students participate in a simulation by...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: The Economics of the New Deal
The stock-market crash of 1929 is generally seen as the start of The Great Depression, the worst economic downturn in the history of the United States. The Depression had devastating effects on the country. But it also served as a...
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: The Economics of Voting
Since the 1960s, many Americans eligible to vote have not bothered to do so- not even in presidential elections. Low rates of participation in voting have been worrisome to people interested in preserving our democratic traditions....
Council for Economic Education
Econ Ed Link: Understanding a Balance Sheet
A balance sheet shows the assets, liabilities, and net worth for a business on a given day. This business document is one of the major documents used in evaluating a business. Students will learn the components of a balance sheet by...