Unit Four: Principles of Macroeconomics
1. Introduced students to issues revolving around the Great Recession and the financial meltdown of 2008. Read article, "Latter's Explanation of the 2008 Financial Crisis." Students took notes. Read Chapter 12-Sections 1 and 2. [11/5]
2. Continued discussing the concept of the Great Recession and the financial meltdown of 2008 by watching video, Inside the Meltdown from PBS. Students took notes. Entry slip for Thursday: 4-Square Graphic Organizer: Upper Left, Who was Chairman of the Federal Reserve in 2008?; Upper Right, list the financial firms that failed in 2008 ; Lower Left, what was the total amount asked of Congress to bailout the banks? and in the Lower Right, Who was the most to blame for the Meltdown, and why do you believe so?. Read article,"Anniversary of Lehman Brothers Collapse." [11/6-7]
3. Introduction to the Business Cycle (see lecture notes packet here). Read through the notes as a class. Introduced the concept of economic indicators and how they tie in to business cycles:: Economics Indicators worksheet due Monday, Introduction to gross domestic product, its definition, how it is constructed and used. GDP Worksheet due on Monday, too. [11/8]
4. Introduction to Economic Growth and Productivity, defining what economic growth is and why it is important, and how labor productivity ties in to growth. Assigned Rule of 70 worksheet, Gulf Storms Recovery and Mississippi Transportation worksheet, all are due Tuesday. Read Chapter 12-Sections 3. [11/9]
5. Discussion on Unemployment: definitions of and types of unemployment, along with labor force, and other terms. Activity: The Labor Market Mystery, worksheet due Thursday. Assigned Activity 16 (Types of UE), Problem Set 8.6 (UE), and Problem Set 8.7 (Types of UE)--all due Thursday; Read Chapter 13-Sections 1 and 2. [11/12]
No school today--Parent-Teacher Conferences, from 8AM-8PM. [11/13]
6.Introduction to the concept of inflation. Learned how to create a market basket of goods in order to construct a Consumer Price Index (CPI). Assigned Activity 13 (Price Indices), which is due Friday. Read Chapter 13-Section 3 for tomorrow,. [11/14]
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7. Introduced a way to calculate inflation--the GDP Deflator. The use of the Deflator was demonstrated by working the top-grossing movies of all-time and re-ranking them in 2009 dollars--assigned Problem Set 8.9a (GDP Deflator)--due Monday. Read Chapter 14-Sections 1 and 2 for tomorrow. [11/15]
8. Introduction to wealth inequality and how it is measured using Lorenz Curves and the Gini Index. Lorenz Curves/Gini Index packet due Tuesday. Read Chapter 14--Sections 3 and 4. [11/16]
9. Took Chapter 13 Quiz. Discussed the different kinds of taxes in the United States today; principles of effective taxation; and the criteria for effective taxes. Talked about payroll taxes and FICA. [11/19]
10. Discussed whether taxes can be used as incentives for behavior. Assignments: complete table of proposed tax changes, and complete National Commission on Taxation study guide. Both due next Monday. Finish reading Chapter 14 [11/20]
Thanksgiving Break--no school until Monday.
11. Activity: The Supreme Court and the Economy. Read about the four types of cases that come before the U.S. Supreme Court, and then read about four groundbreaking cases in Supreme Court history. Complete the table of these four cases (Economic Cases Brought Before the Supreme Court)--due Wednesday. [11/26]
12. Activity: Government Spending, an exercise in analyzing the budget of the federal budget. Study groups analyze data about the budget and answer assigned questions, which were the shared with the rest of the class. Students took notes on the findings of the other groups in their Briefing Report, which will be due today as an exit slip. [11/27]
13. Took Chapter 14 Quiz. Reviewed fiscal policy tools used in the United States, which are taxes and government spending, which are controlled by the President and the Congress. Also discussed the two type of fiscal policy: expansionary and contractionary. Assignments: complete Fiscal Policy Tools packet, due Friday; and read Chapter 15-Sections 1 and 2. [11/28]
14. Activity: Federal Budget. Learned what the various parts of the federal budget are and the difficulty in crafting one by engaging in online exercises: The Fiscal Ship where the goal is to pick three areas of emphasis, and to try balance the federal budget; and the Federal Budget Challenge, where the goal is to reduce the national debt. Exit slip: for each website budget simulation, indicate whether you had a budget surplus or a budget deficit, how much that amount was, and what the effect was on the national debt. Read Chapter 15-Section 3. [11/29]
15. Introduction to aggregate demand and aggregate supply. Discussion on Supply-Side Economics of Hayek. compared to the Demand-Side Economics of Keynes. Discussion of the Great Depression and the rise of Keynesianism, and the era of stagflation and the rise of the Chicago School of Hayek. Discussion of 1980 presidential election and the Laffer Curve, adopted by Reagan for his candidacy. Assignments: Understanding Demand-Side and Supply-Side Economics worksheet, and complete Economic Functions of Government packet, both due Tuesday. [11/30]
16. Discuss budget surpluses, budget deficits, and the national debt. Read both Handout 1 and Handout 2 from the activity, "Should We Worry About the National Debt?" Determine which point-of-view (POV) is closest to yours, and then answer the study guide questions based on your POV, which is due Wednesday. [12/3]
17. Quiz on Chapter 15. Distributed packet on the Federal Reserve System and reviewed it as a class. Then began a brief review of monetary policy and how the three traditional tools on monetary policy are used. Watched video about the Federal Reserve, In Plain English, completing the video study guide while watching, which is due today. Read Chapter 16-Sections 1 and 2/ Distributed Unit 4 Review sheet for exam next week. [124]
18. Discussion on how money is created in the fractional banking system in the U.S.,and how an initial deposit can multiply throughout the economy (the multiplier). Also discussed the money supply (M1 & M2) and the velocity of money. Assignments: read Chapter 16-Section 3; and complete worksheet, Creation of Money. [12/5]
19. Review of monetary policy and the traditional tools used by the Fed. Read article (and Mark the Text), "The Man Who Wasn't There," about the death of the Fed Chairman, Ben Strong, who might have acted much earlier to save banks from the Great Depression. Complete a Clarifying and Summarizing worksheet for the article--due Monday. [12/6]
20. Quiz on Chapter 16 (The Federal Reserve). Reviewed the traditional monetary policy tools of the Federal Reserve (open market operations, raising/lowering interest rates, and raising/lowering reserve ratios.) Activity--Mini-FOMC, in which small study groups are assigned various problems with the nation's economy is facing. Each group turns in its recommendations to solve each problem--due at end of class today. [12/7]
No School Today (12/10)--All-Staff Day
21. Discussed how economists and political scientists get together to form public policy in the operation of government. Reviewed the concepts of GDP, productivity, business cycles, inflation, and unemployment and they are applied during periods of expansion and of recession. Introduced concept of misery index and how it used--Problem Set 8.10 (Misery Index), complete and return for extra credit. Also introduced how political scientists developed an election prediction model to predict who would win in an election year. Given the change in GDP per capita growth numbers since 1960, fill in the chart (Activities 8.2. and 8.3) and predict who would win, and whether the rules are proven to be correct, Both assignments due Thursday. [12/11]
22. Reviewed for exam on Macroeconomics (Chapters 12-16) [12/12]
23. Unit Four Test on Macroeconomics. Late work due by 4PM on today. [12/13]
10. Conducted a WebQuest in class, in which various federal agencies' websites were visited and questions were answered in the WebQuest packet, which is due on Friday. Goal was to see the interaction between those who conduct public policy and economic policy. Due Wednesday. Read Chapter 13-Section 1 and Chapter 13-Section 2. [4/16-17]
14. Discuss the functions and characteristics of money. Read about story of Pine Gulch and Gus Mahler, answering questions from the article. Questions on reading due on Tuesday. [4/20]
15. Lecture on the Brief History of Banking in the United States, 1783-1912. Read Chapter 14-Section 2. [4/23]
17. Reviewed the financial meltdown of 2008 as an introduction to the video, $10 Trillion and Counting. Students took notes as they watched, reflecting upon the differences between what was presented by the video, Inside the Meltdown, and by $10 Trillion and Counting.; entry slip for tomorrow--list at list five (5) things learned while watching the video. Took survey for Unit 6 to determine which economic issues will be discussed in that unit. [4/25]
18. Finished $10 Trillion and Counting, taking notes. Entry slip for tomorrow: what budget items (up to three) would you cut to reduce the federal budget deficit and why would choose them? Read Chapter 15-Section 1. [4/26]
21. Log in to computer in lab. Pick up worksheet dealing with the national budget and how it is divided up into various agencies and departments. Complete, then compare with actual numbers. Visit website, the National Budget Simulation. Run through the short version of the budget. When comfortable, go on and go complete the long version of the budget. When done, e-mail Mr. Attaway the result or save it as a Google Doc or print out first page of results. Due tomorrow. [5/7]
22. Took Unit 4 Post-test. Review for Unit Test on Macroeconomics. Late work due by 4PM on Monday. [5/8-5/11].
Watched video from the Federal Reserve
Watched another Federal Reserve video, The Eye of the Storm, taking notes as well. Entry slip for tomorrow, 3-2-1 Summarizer: what are the three (3) traditional monetary policy tools of the Fed (in detail); name at least two (2) Federal Reserve chairman between the years 1979 and 2004; and what is the one (1) question that still remains
Took Chapter 14 Quiz.
22. Introduced concept of political representation and it is tied to public policy economics and macroeconomics. Also introduced concepts of trustee representation and delegate representation. Students were then directed toward a Critical Reading exercise of excerpts from Jean Jacques Rousseau, Edmund Burke, and James Madison. Once done with the critical reading, students were directed to answer the prompt, "Define in your own words the concepts of trustee and delegate representation. Students were also then directed to take what they have learned about leading economists (e.g. Smith, Keynes, Hayek, et al) and macroeconomics to write a position paper answering this questions: "Do the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States differ significantly in their outlook on representation like they do in terms of economic philosophy?" The marked text, the prompt, and the position paper are all due Friday December 19, 2014. [12/9-10]
2. Continued discussing the concept of the Great Recession and the financial meltdown of 2008 by watching video, Inside the Meltdown from PBS. Students took notes. Entry slip for Thursday: 4-Square Graphic Organizer: Upper Left, Who was Chairman of the Federal Reserve in 2008?; Upper Right, list the financial firms that failed in 2008 ; Lower Left, what was the total amount asked of Congress to bailout the banks? and in the Lower Right, Who was the most to blame for the Meltdown, and why do you believe so?. Read article,"Anniversary of Lehman Brothers Collapse." [11/6-7]
3. Introduction to the Business Cycle (see lecture notes packet here). Read through the notes as a class. Introduced the concept of economic indicators and how they tie in to business cycles:: Economics Indicators worksheet due Monday, Introduction to gross domestic product, its definition, how it is constructed and used. GDP Worksheet due on Monday, too. [11/8]
4. Introduction to Economic Growth and Productivity, defining what economic growth is and why it is important, and how labor productivity ties in to growth. Assigned Rule of 70 worksheet, Gulf Storms Recovery and Mississippi Transportation worksheet, all are due Tuesday. Read Chapter 12-Sections 3. [11/9]
5. Discussion on Unemployment: definitions of and types of unemployment, along with labor force, and other terms. Activity: The Labor Market Mystery, worksheet due Thursday. Assigned Activity 16 (Types of UE), Problem Set 8.6 (UE), and Problem Set 8.7 (Types of UE)--all due Thursday; Read Chapter 13-Sections 1 and 2. [11/12]
No school today--Parent-Teacher Conferences, from 8AM-8PM. [11/13]
6.Introduction to the concept of inflation. Learned how to create a market basket of goods in order to construct a Consumer Price Index (CPI). Assigned Activity 13 (Price Indices), which is due Friday. Read Chapter 13-Section 3 for tomorrow,. [11/14]
.
7. Introduced a way to calculate inflation--the GDP Deflator. The use of the Deflator was demonstrated by working the top-grossing movies of all-time and re-ranking them in 2009 dollars--assigned Problem Set 8.9a (GDP Deflator)--due Monday. Read Chapter 14-Sections 1 and 2 for tomorrow. [11/15]
8. Introduction to wealth inequality and how it is measured using Lorenz Curves and the Gini Index. Lorenz Curves/Gini Index packet due Tuesday. Read Chapter 14--Sections 3 and 4. [11/16]
9. Took Chapter 13 Quiz. Discussed the different kinds of taxes in the United States today; principles of effective taxation; and the criteria for effective taxes. Talked about payroll taxes and FICA. [11/19]
10. Discussed whether taxes can be used as incentives for behavior. Assignments: complete table of proposed tax changes, and complete National Commission on Taxation study guide. Both due next Monday. Finish reading Chapter 14 [11/20]
Thanksgiving Break--no school until Monday.
11. Activity: The Supreme Court and the Economy. Read about the four types of cases that come before the U.S. Supreme Court, and then read about four groundbreaking cases in Supreme Court history. Complete the table of these four cases (Economic Cases Brought Before the Supreme Court)--due Wednesday. [11/26]
12. Activity: Government Spending, an exercise in analyzing the budget of the federal budget. Study groups analyze data about the budget and answer assigned questions, which were the shared with the rest of the class. Students took notes on the findings of the other groups in their Briefing Report, which will be due today as an exit slip. [11/27]
13. Took Chapter 14 Quiz. Reviewed fiscal policy tools used in the United States, which are taxes and government spending, which are controlled by the President and the Congress. Also discussed the two type of fiscal policy: expansionary and contractionary. Assignments: complete Fiscal Policy Tools packet, due Friday; and read Chapter 15-Sections 1 and 2. [11/28]
14. Activity: Federal Budget. Learned what the various parts of the federal budget are and the difficulty in crafting one by engaging in online exercises: The Fiscal Ship where the goal is to pick three areas of emphasis, and to try balance the federal budget; and the Federal Budget Challenge, where the goal is to reduce the national debt. Exit slip: for each website budget simulation, indicate whether you had a budget surplus or a budget deficit, how much that amount was, and what the effect was on the national debt. Read Chapter 15-Section 3. [11/29]
15. Introduction to aggregate demand and aggregate supply. Discussion on Supply-Side Economics of Hayek. compared to the Demand-Side Economics of Keynes. Discussion of the Great Depression and the rise of Keynesianism, and the era of stagflation and the rise of the Chicago School of Hayek. Discussion of 1980 presidential election and the Laffer Curve, adopted by Reagan for his candidacy. Assignments: Understanding Demand-Side and Supply-Side Economics worksheet, and complete Economic Functions of Government packet, both due Tuesday. [11/30]
16. Discuss budget surpluses, budget deficits, and the national debt. Read both Handout 1 and Handout 2 from the activity, "Should We Worry About the National Debt?" Determine which point-of-view (POV) is closest to yours, and then answer the study guide questions based on your POV, which is due Wednesday. [12/3]
17. Quiz on Chapter 15. Distributed packet on the Federal Reserve System and reviewed it as a class. Then began a brief review of monetary policy and how the three traditional tools on monetary policy are used. Watched video about the Federal Reserve, In Plain English, completing the video study guide while watching, which is due today. Read Chapter 16-Sections 1 and 2/ Distributed Unit 4 Review sheet for exam next week. [124]
18. Discussion on how money is created in the fractional banking system in the U.S.,and how an initial deposit can multiply throughout the economy (the multiplier). Also discussed the money supply (M1 & M2) and the velocity of money. Assignments: read Chapter 16-Section 3; and complete worksheet, Creation of Money. [12/5]
19. Review of monetary policy and the traditional tools used by the Fed. Read article (and Mark the Text), "The Man Who Wasn't There," about the death of the Fed Chairman, Ben Strong, who might have acted much earlier to save banks from the Great Depression. Complete a Clarifying and Summarizing worksheet for the article--due Monday. [12/6]
20. Quiz on Chapter 16 (The Federal Reserve). Reviewed the traditional monetary policy tools of the Federal Reserve (open market operations, raising/lowering interest rates, and raising/lowering reserve ratios.) Activity--Mini-FOMC, in which small study groups are assigned various problems with the nation's economy is facing. Each group turns in its recommendations to solve each problem--due at end of class today. [12/7]
No School Today (12/10)--All-Staff Day
21. Discussed how economists and political scientists get together to form public policy in the operation of government. Reviewed the concepts of GDP, productivity, business cycles, inflation, and unemployment and they are applied during periods of expansion and of recession. Introduced concept of misery index and how it used--Problem Set 8.10 (Misery Index), complete and return for extra credit. Also introduced how political scientists developed an election prediction model to predict who would win in an election year. Given the change in GDP per capita growth numbers since 1960, fill in the chart (Activities 8.2. and 8.3) and predict who would win, and whether the rules are proven to be correct, Both assignments due Thursday. [12/11]
22. Reviewed for exam on Macroeconomics (Chapters 12-16) [12/12]
23. Unit Four Test on Macroeconomics. Late work due by 4PM on today. [12/13]
10. Conducted a WebQuest in class, in which various federal agencies' websites were visited and questions were answered in the WebQuest packet, which is due on Friday. Goal was to see the interaction between those who conduct public policy and economic policy. Due Wednesday. Read Chapter 13-Section 1 and Chapter 13-Section 2. [4/16-17]
14. Discuss the functions and characteristics of money. Read about story of Pine Gulch and Gus Mahler, answering questions from the article. Questions on reading due on Tuesday. [4/20]
15. Lecture on the Brief History of Banking in the United States, 1783-1912. Read Chapter 14-Section 2. [4/23]
17. Reviewed the financial meltdown of 2008 as an introduction to the video, $10 Trillion and Counting. Students took notes as they watched, reflecting upon the differences between what was presented by the video, Inside the Meltdown, and by $10 Trillion and Counting.; entry slip for tomorrow--list at list five (5) things learned while watching the video. Took survey for Unit 6 to determine which economic issues will be discussed in that unit. [4/25]
18. Finished $10 Trillion and Counting, taking notes. Entry slip for tomorrow: what budget items (up to three) would you cut to reduce the federal budget deficit and why would choose them? Read Chapter 15-Section 1. [4/26]
21. Log in to computer in lab. Pick up worksheet dealing with the national budget and how it is divided up into various agencies and departments. Complete, then compare with actual numbers. Visit website, the National Budget Simulation. Run through the short version of the budget. When comfortable, go on and go complete the long version of the budget. When done, e-mail Mr. Attaway the result or save it as a Google Doc or print out first page of results. Due tomorrow. [5/7]
22. Took Unit 4 Post-test. Review for Unit Test on Macroeconomics. Late work due by 4PM on Monday. [5/8-5/11].
Watched video from the Federal Reserve
Watched another Federal Reserve video, The Eye of the Storm, taking notes as well. Entry slip for tomorrow, 3-2-1 Summarizer: what are the three (3) traditional monetary policy tools of the Fed (in detail); name at least two (2) Federal Reserve chairman between the years 1979 and 2004; and what is the one (1) question that still remains
Took Chapter 14 Quiz.
22. Introduced concept of political representation and it is tied to public policy economics and macroeconomics. Also introduced concepts of trustee representation and delegate representation. Students were then directed toward a Critical Reading exercise of excerpts from Jean Jacques Rousseau, Edmund Burke, and James Madison. Once done with the critical reading, students were directed to answer the prompt, "Define in your own words the concepts of trustee and delegate representation. Students were also then directed to take what they have learned about leading economists (e.g. Smith, Keynes, Hayek, et al) and macroeconomics to write a position paper answering this questions: "Do the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States differ significantly in their outlook on representation like they do in terms of economic philosophy?" The marked text, the prompt, and the position paper are all due Friday December 19, 2014. [12/9-10]