Economics
Economics offers a tightly focused and scaffolded curriculum that provides an introduction to key economic principles. The course covers fundamental properties of economics, including an examination of markets from both historical and current perspectives; the basics of supply and demand; the theories of early economic philosophers such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo; theories of value; the concept of money and how it evolved; the role of banks, investment houses, and the Federal Reserve; Keynesian economics; the productivity, wages, investment, and growth involved in capitalism; unemployment, inflations, and the national debt; and a survey of the global economy.
Economics is designed to fall in the fourth year of social studies instruction. Students establish mastery of key economic principles through a scaffolded series of analytic written assignments and lesson tests. They also apply basic mathematics to economic concepts.
This course is built to state standards and further informed by standards from the National Council for History Education, the National Center for History in the Schools, and the National Council for Social Studies.