Economics

2008 – 2009
Instructor Information: Contact Information:
Instructor: Mr. Brent Jandron Office Phone: (231) 720 – 2935
Class Room: A220 Muskegon High School Email: bjandron@mpsk12.net
Office Hours: 2:45 – 3:24 m-thur
Course Philosophy:
“Freedom is not Free” – F. Roosevelt
“An unexamined life is one not worth living”- Plato
“An educated mind will not allow the chains of enslavement”- Jacobs

Course Information: This course is designed to facilitate real life skills so you can be participating citizens in your community. The course begins by analyzing the social contract and the importance of a governing body. The Government section of the course concludes with an in-depth analysis of the US’s governmental structure and policies that are born from that structure. You will be able to demonstrate your understanding of the course though examinations, debates, simulations, presentations, and writing persuasive arguments. Moreover, the Economic portion of the course is designed to develop a greater understanding of basic economic theory. When the course concludes in June, you will have a solid foundation of the basic economic concepts.

Course Guidelines and Procedures:
Student learning is the first priority of the class.
I mark students tardy when they are not sitting in their assigned seat when the bell rings.
I explain procedures once.
I respect students
I listen and speak to students who behave and treat me with respect.
I call on students after they raise their hand, and I speak to only one student at a time.
I write hall passes when I am not giving instruction.
I am required to follow all MHS Student handbook procedures.

Course Grading Policy: Grading will include every facet of your involvement. I grade on behavior, assignments, quizzes, and tests. Some of the factors determining a grade include: neatness, following instructions, spelling, grammar, content, and effort.


Grade Percent Scale: School grading scale

Semester Grade Weights: Semester grades are calculated by weights of the following: trimester grade 80%, and Final Exam 20%.

Assignments: I accept late work within the first week it was due. Late work will be reduced by 50% and it will be graded after it is completed.

Absent Work: I am not responsibility for absent work. Former students have found it helpful to ask me before or after class, or they will look in the assignment folder for the assignment(s). Work that was due the day you were absent is due before class the day you return.

Absent Work Procedure: Turn in before the same number of day(s) you were absent.

Attendance: Is required classroom participation will be taken for lack of attendance

Course Materials: Former students have found it helpful to bring a three ring binder / class folder, paper, pencil/pen, Grade Matrix, Transaction Register, class book and any assignments everyday to class.





Extra Credit:
Will be assigned once per semester

Classroom participation Each student will be given 40 points at the beginning of the trimester, points will be taken away for: Being sent to RTC, sleeping in class, taking more than two bathroom passes, general bad behavior, or failure to cooperate.

Economics pacing Guide
Week 1,2
Economic systems

3.1.1 Major Economic Systems – Give examples of and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of major economic systems (command, market and mixed), including their philosophical and historical foundations (e.g., Marx and the Communist Manifesto, Adam Smith and the Wealth of Nations).(National Geography Standard 11, p. 206)
3.1.5 Comparing Economic Systems – Using the three basic economic questions (e.g., what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce), compare and contrast a socialist (command) economy (such as North Korea or Cuba) with the Capitalist as a mixed, free market system of the United States.(National Geography Standard 11, p. 206)
3.1.6 Impact of Transitional Economies – Analyze the impact of transitional economies, such as in China and India, on the global economy in general and the American economy in particular. (National Geography Standard 11, p. 206)

Week 3,4
Wants vs. Needs Individual Business, Government choices

1.1.1 Scarcity, Choice, Opportunity Costs, and Comparative Advantage – Using examples, explain how scarcity, choice, opportunity costs affect decisions that households, businesses, and governments make in the market place and explain how comparative advantage creates gains from trade.
4.1.1 Scarcity and Opportunity Costs – Apply concepts of scarcity and opportunity costs to personal financial decision making.
4.1.5 Personal Decisions – Use a decision-making model (e.g., stating a problem, listing alternatives, establishing criteria, weighing options, making the decision, and evaluating the result) to evaluate the different aspects of personal finance including careers, savings and investing tools, and different forms of income generation.

Week 5,6
Price, Supply and Demand

1.3.1 Law of Supply – Explain the law of supply and analyze the likely change in supply when there are changes in prices of the productive resources (e.g., labor, land, capital including technology), or the profit opportunities available to producers by selling other goods or services, or the number of sellers in a market.
1.3.2 Law of Demand – Explain the law of demand and analyze the likely change in demand when there are changes in prices of the goods or services, availability of alternative (substitute or complementary) goods or services, or changes in the number of buyers in a market created by such things as change in income or availability of credit.
1.3.3 Price, Equilibrium, Elasticity, and Incentives – Analyze how prices change through the interaction of buyers and sellers in a market including the role of supply, demand, equilibrium, elasticity, and explain how incentives (monetary and non-monetary) affect choices of households and economic organizations.
4.1.2 Marginal Benefit and Cost – Use examples and case studies to explain and evaluate the impact of marginal benefit and marginal cost of an activity on choices and decisions.


Week 7,8
Understanding National Markets and Business

2.1.1 Income – Describe how individuals and businesses earn income by selling productive resources.
2.1.2 Circular Flow and the National Economy – Using the concept of circular flow, analyze the roles of and the relationships between households, business firms, financial institutions, and government and nongovernmental agencies in the economy of the United States.
2.1.3 Financial Institutions and Money Supply – Analyze how decisions by the Federal Reserve and actions by financial institutions (e.g., commercial banks, credit unions) regarding deposits and loans, impact the expansion and contraction of the money supply.
2.1.4 Money Supply, Inflation, and Recession – Explain the relationships between money supply, inflation, and recessions.
2.1.5 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Economic Growth – Use GDP data to measure the rate of economic growth in the United States and identify factors that have contributed to this economic growth
2.1.6 Unemployment – Analyze the character of different types of unemployment including frictional, structural, and cyclical.
2.1.7 Economic Indicators – Using a number of indicators, such as GDP, per capita GDP, unemployment rates, and Consumer Price Index, analyze the characteristics of business cycles, including the characteristics of peaks, recessions, and expansions.
2.1.8 Relationship Between Expenditures and Revenue (Circular Flow) – Using the circular flow model, explain how spending on consumption, investment, government and net exports determines national income; explain how a decrease in total expenditures affects the value of a nation’s output of final goods and services.
2.1.9 American Economy in the World – Analyze the changing relationship between the American economy and the global economy including, but not limited to, the increasing complexity of American economic activity (e.g., outsourcing, off-shoring, and supply-chaining) generated by the expansion of the global economy. (National Geography Standard 11, p. 206)

Week 9
Decision making/ Personal finance

4.1.3 Personal Finance Strategy – Develop a personal finance strategy for earning, spending, saving and investing resources.
4.1.4 Key Components of Personal Finance – Evaluate key components of personal finance including, money management, saving and investment, spending and credit, income, mortgages, retirement, investing (e.g., 401K, IRAs), and insurance.
1.1.2 Entrepreneurship – Identify the risks, returns and other characteristics of entrepreneurship that bear on its attractiveness as a career.
1.4.1 Public Policy and the Market – Analyze the impact of a change in public policy (such as an increase in the minimum wage, a new tax policy, or a change in interest rates) on consumers, producers, workers, savers, and investors.
1.4.5 Economic Incentives and Government – Identify and explain how monetary and non-monetary incentives affect government officials and voters and explain how government policies affect the behavior of various people including consumers, savers, investors, workers, and producers.
2.2.5 Government Revenue and Services – Analyze the ways in which governments generate revenue on consumption, income and wealth and use that revenue for public services (e.g., parks and highways) and social welfare (e.g., social security, Medicaid, Medicare).

Week 10,11,12
Competitive Markets

1.2.1 Business Structures – Compare and contrast the functions and constraints facing economic institutions including small and large businesses, labor unions, banks, and households.
2.1.3 Financial Institutions and Money Supply – Analyze how decisions by the Federal Reserve and actions by financial institutions (e.g., commercial banks, credit unions) regarding deposits and loans, impact the expansion and contraction of the money supply.
2.2.4 Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy – Explain the roles and responsibilities of the Federal Reserve System and compare and contrast the consequences – intended and unintended – of different monetary policy actions of the Federal Reserve Board as a means to achieve macroeconomic goals of stable prices, low unemployment, and economic growth.
3.2.4 Monetary Policy and International Trade – Analyze how the decisions made by a country’s central bank (or the Federal Reserve) impact a nation’s international trade. (National Geography Standard 13, p. 210)
3.2.2 Domestic Activity and World Trade – Assess the impact of trade policies (i.e. tariffs, quotas, export subsidies, product standards and other barriers), monetary policy, exchange rates, and interest rates on domestic activity and world trade. (National Geography Standard 11, p. 206)