Week 15, Syllabus

Mr. Ditzenberger-Economics

Lessons: Taxes and Government Spending Time: Week 15, April 28th-May 2nd Unit: Government and the Economy

Objectives:
1. Students will compare the various revenue streams for the American federal government.

Monday
1. Lecture, Chapter 14, Section 2, Federal Taxes

Tuesday
1. Senior Trip

Wednesday
1. Senior Trip

Thursday.
1. Labor Day

Friday.
1. Labor Day

Week 14, Syllabus

Mr. Ditzenberger-Economics
Lessons: Taxes and Government Spending Time: Week 14, April 21st-25th Unit: Government and the Economy
Objectives:
1. Students will calculate the CPI and the inflation rate for their imaginary market basket.
2. Students will list the various aspects of federal taxes.
3. Students will debate the pros and cons of legalized gambling in a society.
4. Students will summarize their understanding of God’s thoughts on poverty.
5. Students will locate and summarize an article on taxes in their home country.
6. Students will evaluate the unintended consequences of whether Social Security is privatized.

Monday
1. Finish skit over section 1.
2. Finish CPI example from section 2.
3. Homework: Choose three articles each from the “pro” side and the “con” side (six articles total) of the following website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/gamble/procon/. Make a list of the arguments that are made in the articles you choose. Also, write the title of the articles down on the same paper in which your list is made. Bring this to class as your ticket in. Due tomorrow for a debate.
4. Homework: Read chapter 13, section 3.
5. Homework: LTE Quiz on Friday, 190-200.
6. Test Tomorrow.

Tuesday
1. Test
2. God’s thoughts on poverty-Bible verses relating to poverty. Quiz tomorrow on handout.
3. Poverty interview from PBS.


Wednesday
1. Gambling Debate

Thursday.
1. Lecture Chapter 14, Section 1.
2. Homework-find a current event on taxes in your country or America. (It is tax season in the U.S., so if you cannot find an article that is interesting to you from Japan, Korea, ID, or the UK, you can choose an American article. If you are American, stick with the good ‘ole US of A. Due on Monday.
3. Poverty quiz over Bible verses handout (time permitting)
4. Read Chapter 14, Section 2.

Friday.
1. LTE Quiz-190-200.
2. MNA-6146.
3. Read and discuss: “Henry J. Aaron” Economic Profile on page 370.
4. Homework: Read Section 3, Federal Spending. Complete #s 1-4 and #6 on page 374. Answer question #6 in two paragraphs. Please type if your handwriting is hard to read.

Unit 5 Study Guide

M/C-products included in the calculation of GDP, variables that affect the business cycle, the Great Depression, stages of the business cycle, diff. between seasonal and structural unemployment, "healthy" unemployment rate, workfare, demand pull theory, effects of very low unemployment, the calculation of the unemp rate, types of unemployment, CPI calculation, causes of inflation, working poor, the effects of inflation on different population segments
Matching-there are 10 matching. Be familiar with key terms in the two chapters.
Short Answer/Essay-Explain the relationship between consumer expectations and economic performance; How does the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculate the rise in prices each year?; Explain how a person can be employed and still be living under the poverty threshold.

Week 13, Syllabus

Mr. Ditzenberger-Economics
Lessons: GDP and Economic Challenges
Time: Week 13, April 14th-18th
Unit: Measuring Economic Performance
Objectives:
1. Students will list the different characteristics and causes of the types of unemployment.
2. Students will define the key terms and concepts related to GDP, the business cycle, and factors of economic growth.
3. Students will simulate a production situation and relate it to standards of living as well as analyze the cost and benefits of increasing capital to improve production and profits.

Monday
1. GDP Lecture.
2. LTE 170-190 Due Friday.

Tuesday
1. GDP Lecture.
2. Homework: work on projects.

Wednesday
1. Review of Chapter 12. 3 Groups of 5 will conduct a 5 minute review of each section of chapter 12. Followed by a quiz. Each person should play a role. 15 minutes to prepare. The presentation should be creative-a game, a skit, a poster, something that will grab the attention of classmates.
2. Homework: work on projects.

Thursday.
1. Simulation on page 328.
2. Homework: work on projects.

Friday.
1. Lecture-Unemployment, Section 1
2. Quiz-LTE 170-190, time permitting.
3. Work on projects.

Week 12 Syllabus

Mr. Ditzenberger-Economics
Lessons: GDP and Economic Challenges
Time: Week 12, April 7th-11th
Unit: Measuring Economic Performance
Objectives:
1. Students will define the key terms and concepts related to GDP, the business cycle, and factors of economic growth.
2. Students will simulate a production situation and relate it to standards of living as well as analyze the cost and benefits of increasing capital to improve production and profits.

Monday
1. In groups of three, each student picks five companies, issues bonds at different par values, coupon rates, and maturity times. Papers are exchanged and the person who received their examples needs to figure out the total amount of money that they would earn on their bond.
2. Develop a skit where you are a financial advisor and a customer of yours is in their 20s, 30s, 40, 50, or 60s (ages will be assigned). Each customer wants to spend between 20 and 50% of their money in bonds. Using terms in your book, explain the pros and cons of at least three types of bonds and then give your recommendation to your customer.
1. Homework: Read Chapter 11, Section 3, The Stock Market.
2. Homework: LTE 150-169 for Friday.
3. Homework. Each person go to the interactive chart (http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/interchart/interchart.asp?symb=&time=&freq=) and enter a company’s ticker symbol. Do this five times for five different companies. Under chart options choose five years or one decade and yearly. Scroll down to lower indicators and choose P/E ratio. Choose a company to purchase based on the advice given on page 150 in LTE and your analysis of the P/E ratio of the given companies. Each team should choose at least two companies to purchase (that haven’t been purchased already) based on these findings. The purchase should be made by Wednesday evening. Each team should give me a list of the companies that were purchased given the P/E ration research. Provide how much was invested and the reason for choosing that company. Due Thursday at the end of school.

Tuesday
1. John Honeyman

Wednesday
1. Test

Thursday.
1. GDP Lecture.
2. P/E decisions for teams due.

Friday.
1. Lecture-GDP continued
2. LTE 150-169 time permitting.

4th Quarte Project

Economics Project-Quarter 4

You have two options this quarter. If you would like the standard research project and are tired of working in groups, you may choose to research the lives of three top economists-Keynes, Marx, and Adam Smith. In your research you will compare the lives, ideas, and impact of these three economists. Because these economists have supported revolutions, both violent and nonviolent, and because you are at a college level now, this research paper must be from 12-18 pages in length. More details will be forthcoming.

The other topic is to research the present and future impact of the giant and developing economies of India and China. By nature, economics is a predictive social science. In other words, it takes the data and observations of the past and it uses these ideas to predict future behavior, either on the micro or on the macro level. Your job in this research paper will be to predict the macro-economic impact of these quickly developing economies over the next 10, 20, and 50 years. This topic is also a significant topic to consider, so it must be treated thoroughly. The research report must be 15-20 pages. More details will be forthcoming.