Economics & Finance

• 2012-2013 Economics and Finance Syllabus
• College Recommendation Instructions

Unit #1:  Introduction to Economics

Homework:

• 2012 Introduction to Economics Assignments
• “Bad Food?  Tax it and Subsidize Vegetables”
• “The Political History of Cap and Trade”
• Introductory Unit Review Guide (50-point test will be on: Thursday September 20 (Block 4)/Tuesday, September 18 (Block 5)

Class Activities and Handouts:

• Economics-Student Information sheet
• What is economics
• Introductory Concepts Webquest
• CIA Factbook United States Economic Statistics (for Introductory Webquest)
• Scarcity And Abundance
• Tax Law Simulation
• Opportunity Cost
• Externalities  (NYT article for this lesson is here)

Unit #2:  The Household Budget Project

• 2012 Household Budget Project
• Navy Federal Credit Union Mortgage calculator
• Navy Federal Credit Union Car payment calculator

Optional Reading and Information:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey
• BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey Press Release
• Estimating Expenses Before Buying Your First Home

Unit #3: Supply and Demand

Homework:

• 2012 Supply and Demand Homework
• Many Food Industry Workers Barely Getting By  (for test)
• Raise the Minimum Wage (Bloomberg)  (for test)
• Raising the Minimum Wage Hurts Low Income Workers  (for test)
• 2012 Supply and Demand Test Review (test will be on Friday, October 19)

Class Activities:

• Introduction to Demand
• Introduction to Supply
• Supply and Demand Examples: Part I
• Supply and Demand Examples: Part II
• 30 Days on Minimum Wage film-2011
• Price Gouging
• Elasticity

Optional Reading:

• Information About the Minimum Wage (U.S. Department of Labor)  (Current State minimum wage rates are available here.)
• Analysis from the Economic Policy Institute Regarding A Minimum Wage Increase
• Many Low Wage Jobs Seen as Failing to Meet Basic Needs  (New York Times)
• Basic Economic Security Tables Initiative study (described in NYT article above)
• Live on $1000 per month (online game)

Unit #4:  Macroeconomics and GDP

Homework:

• 2012 GDP HW Assignment Sheet-Updated
• “Japan Goes from Dynamic to Disheartened” (The New York Times)
• “The Fiscal Cliff,” (from The New Yorker) (handed out in class, original is here)
• Q&A on the Debt Ceiling (The New York Times)
• “One Nation Subsidized” (Time Magazine/article handed out in class)
• “Can the Federal Government Really Create Jobs?” (Time Magazine, December 8, 2009 /article handed out in class)
• 2012 National Debt Activity (Due November 8, 2012)
• 2012 GDP test review guide

Internet Links for Class Activities:

• 16 Ways To Cut the Deficit
• You Fix the Budget

Optional Reading/Recommended:

• “Federal Budget” (from The New York Times/Times Topics)
• News Articles about Taxes and Tax Policy (from the New York Times/Times Topics)
• The Conference Board (link for economic indicators)
• Business Leaders Urge Deficit Deal Even With More Taxes (New York Times, October 25, 2012)
• Link to “Fix the Debt” (CEO organization mentioned in the Times article above)

Classwork:

• Introduction to GDP  (Current GDP Figures available here)
• Aggregate Demand and Supply
• Leading Economic Indicators
• Why Do Nations Grow?
• Inflation
• Recessions
• Fiscal Policy
• Structural Unemployment and Roger and Me
• Flint Michigan Today  (Photos for this lesson available here)

Unit #5A: Policy Paper Writing Assignment

• 2012 Policy Paper Assignment (includes due dates)
• Congressional Quarterly Researcher for assignment (need LS user ID/password)
• 2012 Political Advertising Assignment (includes due dates)
• Ads used in Class:  “Bobblehead Scott Brown” and “Junkie Math“
• Political Ad Contest Notes
• Peer Edit Sheet For Outline
• Peer Edit Sheet For Rough Draft

Optional/Additional Resources

• Great Wall Street Journal video on the “Fiscal Cliff” posted by WBUR and youtube.
• A Great “Q&A” on the “Fiscal Cliff” from the New York Times

Unit #5B:  Money and Banking

Homework:

• 2012 Money and Banking Assignments (includes due dates for Policy Paper)
• 2012 Money and Banking Review Guide

Class Activities:

• What is Money?
• Types of Bank Products
• Consumer Credit Guidelines/Meet Diane/Credit Card Interest
• FICO Scores and Credit Reports (an article about FICO scores and dating is here)
• The Federal Reserve Today  (Video viewed in class is here)
• Federal Reserve Timeline  Resources for Timeline are here
• The Card Game-Frontline Documentary Film Questions (film is here)

2013 Midterm Examination Information

• 2013 E&F midterm Review Sheet  (Time magazine article for exam is here)

Unit #6: Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds

Homework: (see online articles below under “Stocks & Bonds”)

• 2013 Saving and Investing HW
• 2013 Stock and Bond Test Review
• 2013 Stock Portfolio Assignment
• Mutual Fund Reading  (Handed out in class).  Closed note the quiz the day the reading is due;  B4: Due March 4; B5: Due March 5.
• 2013 Mutual Fund Advertisement Activity
• 2013 Mutual fund Portfolio Assignment (includes work schedule; due 3/14)

Stocks & Bonds Required Homework Readings (see homework guide above):

• Tale of a Krispy Stock  & Shares of Sharing
• Innings and Earnings & Declaring Dividends
• Defeating Danger
• In Cider Trading
• Keeping Balance & Reel Smart
• Remember to print out and bring all articles to class on Jan 29 (B4); Jan 30 (B5)-5 point note check

Class Activities

• What is a Stock?
• Simple v. Compound interest
• Building a Diversified Stock Portfolio (Yahoo Finance Definitions; Callan Table)
• What is a Bond?
• Policing the Stock Market: Insider Trading & The SEC

Useful Websites for the Investing Unit:

Stocks and Investing:

• Yahoo! Finance
• Yahoo Industry List
• List of Stocks in the Russell 2000 Index
• CNN/Money list of Stocks in the S&P 500, the DJIA and the Russell 2000
• Information about the Value Line Investment Survey
• The Value Line Free Dow 30
• A list of “Trustworthy” Small and Mid-Cap stocks from Forbes
• The Stock Market Game

Mutual Funds:

• Morningstar Investment Research
• Information about Investing in Bond Mutual Funds (from Morningstar)

Q3 Ongoing Current Events Assignment

• 2013 Current Events Assignment-REV2
• 2013 Current Events Schedule-REV1

Block 4: Previous Articles

• Do Illegal Immigrants Actually Hurt the U.S. Economy? (Conor K)

Unit #7:  The Great Economist Project

• NOTE:  Assignment calendar through April 4: Great Economist Project Schedule
• 2013 Great Economist Project
• Commanding Heights profiles of the Great Economists
• LS Library Online Databases
• 2013 Great Economist Quiz Review

Articles required for the Great Economist Project:

All Groups:  Economist Overview

• Profiles from the “Commanding Heights” series (PBS)

Friedrich Hayek:

• Friedrich Hayek profile (PBS)
• “Austrian School Economist Hayek Finds New Fans,” (National Public Radio)
• “Friedrich A. Hayek: Big Government Skeptic” (New York Times)

John Maynard Keynes:

• John Maynard Keynes Profile (PBS)
• Keynes’ Consuming Ideas on Economic Intervention (NPR)
• “How I Became a Keynesian” (The New Republic) (very difficult)

John Kenneth Galbraith:

• John Kenneth Galbraith profile (PBS)
• John Kenneth Galbraith career overview
• Review of John Kenneth Galbraith’s  A Short History of Financial Euphoria
• John Kenneth Galbraith’s insights into the 2008 financial crisis
• Right for the Wrong Reasons:  Why Galbraith Never Got the Prize

Milton Friedman

• Milton Friedman profile
• Who Was Milton Friedman?
• Commanding Heights profile (PBS)

Adam Smith:

• Adam Smith profile (PBS)
• A Re-interpretation of the Wealth of Nations

Optional/Recommended:

• “The Tale of the Dueling Economists” (New York Times)
• Keynes, Schumpeter and the Great Post-War Mistake (Bloomberg Business Week)
• “How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?”

Unit #8: The 2007-2009 Financial Crisis

• 2013 Financial Crisis Unit Calendar-REV1 (includes due dates)

Homework:

• Assignment #1::  How Can Mortgage Backed Securities Bring Down the U.S. Economy? (Comprehension Questions are here) (due 4/23)
•  Assignment #2:  The State of Reform: Dodd-Frank at Two Years Old (due 5/2)
• Optional Reading: What are Credit Default Swaps?
• 2013 Financial Crisis Review Guide  (due 5/2)

Class Activities:

• Historical Recessions
• Common Elements of Speculative Bubbles Throughout History
• The U.S. Housing “Bubble”
• 2007-2009 Financial Crisis Key Terms Jeopardy Game
• Inside Job Film Questions

Useful Websites for understanding the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis:

• Inside Job Film Website (List of Events/Jargon needed for test)
• PBS “The Warning” (excellent information about the financial crisis)
• PBS “Money, Power and Wall Street,” series website (more excellent information about the financial crisis and very strong for relevant current events since the crisis)

Optional Current Events Readings Related to Financial Reform:

• Easing U.S. Slowly Out of Home Financing
• Cause(s) and Effect(s)
• U.S. Accuses S&P of Fraud in Suit on Loan Bundles
• Emails Imply J.P. Morgan Knew Some Mortgage Deals Were Bad
• Time To Revive The Transaction Financial Tax
• Joe Nocera, “The Simplicity Solution,” New York Times, May 28, 2012
• “A Long Road to Regulating Derivatives,” The New York Times (editorial), May 24, 2012
• Simon Johnson “Dimon and the Fed’s Legitimacy,” The New York Times, May 24, 2012 (Economix Blog)
• The Case for Banking Regulation,” Rana Foroohar, Time Magazine, June 4, 2012
• “The Regulator Who Saw Danger” (Profile of Brooksley Born in Money Magazine)

Final Project

• 2013 Final Project-Create Your Own Business
• Boston Entrepreneurs Battle It Out At Fenway Park

Unit #9:  International Trade (for Juniors only)

• 2012 Trade Readings
• Comparative Advantage & Global Trade Statistics
• Currency Exchange Rates
• Restrictive Trade Policies
• Film Questions Commanding Heights NAFTA
• PBS Series: The Commanding Heights (watch online!)
• International Trade Perspectives
• Options for U.S. Trade Policy
• 2012 Trade Review Guide

End of Year Assignment and Final Exam Day Schedule

• 2012 Financial Crisis Review Guide
• End of Year and Final Exam Day Schedule