Economics for Leaders

Economics for Teachers (EFT) is the flagship program of The Foundation for Teaching Economics and is designed specifically to address the twin goals outlined in the Foundation’s mission statement:

The mission of the FTE is to introduce young individuals, selected for their leadership potential, to an economic way of thinking about national and international issues, and to promote excellence in economic education by helping teachers of economics become more effective educators.

The curriculum materials – including background outlines for teachers and classroom-ready simulations and activities to engage students – support the teaching of critical thinking skills by equipping students with the tools of the economic reasoning. Lessons are designed to stand alone, or to be used together as the framework for a semester course. Applicable economics content standards are identified.

Lesson Outline:

Lesson 1: Economic Growth and Scarcity

• Key Terms and Concepts: Scarcity; Incentives; Technological Change; Standard of Living; Economic Growth; Productivity

Lesson 2: Opportunity Cost and Incentives

• Key Terms and Concepts: Opportunity Cost; Marginal Benefit & Cost; Supply; Incentives; Rationing; Sunk Cost; Money Price; Demand

Lesson 3: Open Markets

• Key Terms and Concepts: Demand; Supply; Market Clearing Price; Competition; Substitutes; Price Ceilings; Property Rights; Equilibrium Price; Market Power

Lesson 4: Markets in Action

• Key Terms and Concepts: Demand; Supply; Market Clearing Price; Competition; Exchange; Price Ceilings & Floors; Property Rights; Marginal Analysis

Lesson 5: Labor Markets

• Key Terms and Concepts: Derived Demand; Productivity; Labor Supply; Technology; Total Labor Income/Individual Income; Investment; Excess Demand/Excess Supply; Unemployment

Lesson 6: Incentives, Innovations, and Roles of Institutions

• Key Terms and Concepts: Invention; Incentives; Entrepreneur; Innovation; Investment; Residual Claimant; Technology; Economic Growth; Profit; Productivity

Lesson 7: Property Rights: Is the Environment Different?

• Key Terms and Concepts: Property Rights; Transaction Costs; Negative Externalities; Positive Externalities; Tragedy of the Commons; Coase Theorem; Marginal Benefits & Costs

Lesson 8: Setting the Rules: Costs and Benefits of Government Action

• Key Terms and Concepts: Voluntary Exchange; Incentives; Externalities; Opportunity Cost; Public Choice; Special Interest Groups; Taxation; Public Goods; Lobbying

Lesson 9: Money and Inflation

• Key Terms and Concepts: Money; Inflation; Government Spending; Discount Rate; Federal Funds Rate; Federal Reserve System; Open Market Operations; Monetary Policy; Interest Rate

Lesson 10: International Markets

• Key Terms and Concepts: Imports; Exports; Comparative Advantage; Exchange Rate; Balance of Payments; Trade Agreements; Quotas

Activity Outline:

The Magic of Markets: Trade Creates Wealth*

• Key Terms and Concepts: Trade; Voluntary Exchange; Costs; Benefits; Property Rights

In the Chips — A Market in Computer Chips*

• Key Terms and Concepts: Supply; Demand; Equilibrium Price (or Market Clearing Price); Competition

Cartels and Competition*

• Key Terms and Concept: 
  • Incentives Matter
  • Increases in supply lead to reductions in price
  • Cartels increase their profits and market prices by restricting production
  • Desire for profit undermines cartel agreements
• The Market for Thingamajigs,* a variation exploring the issue of price gouging (from The Economics of Disasters)

The Job Jungle: A Labor Market Game*

• The Giant Sucking Sound – Trade Woes or Job Flows, a variation exploring outsourcing (from Issues in International Trade)

The Wheat Activity

• Key Terms and Concepts: Diminishing Marginal Productivity; Productive Resources; Productivity; Scarcity

The Fish Game*

• Key Terms and Concepts:  Property Rights; The Tragedy of the Commons; Market Approaches to Conservation

Farmers and Fishers*

• Key Terms and Concepts: Incentives; Property Rights; Voluntary Exchange

A Pollution Solution

Foreign Currencies and Foreign Exchange*

• Key Terms and Concepts: Exchange Rates; Money; Markets; Supply; Demand

Tic-Tac-Toe Tariff * (from Issues in International Trade)

Practice with Opportunity Cost – Lesson 1 supplement used in summer EFT teacher sessions

EFL Performance Assessment – Public Policies on Trial – Student assessment activity used in summer high school student EFL programs