Students work in groups to examine excerpts from primary source documents. They identify social and economic factors affecting specific categories of people when the Great Migration accelerated in 1916 to 1917: black migrant workers from the South, southern planters, southern small-farm farmers, northern industrialists, agents, and white immigrant workers in the North. Each student group creates a "perspectives page" to post for a gallery walk where students analyze the causes of the Great Migration and the changes it brought to both the North and South. Students also discuss the specific economic factors that influenced the Great Migration: scarcity, supply, demand, surplus, shortage, and opportunity cost. Using the PACED decisionmaking model, they analyze the alternatives and criteria of potential migrants.

Students will learn that money is an invention. They will read and analyze an essay focusing primarily on one aspect of Ben Franklin's life his work as a printer and how he was an inventor and entrepreneur who also promoted the use of currency in the United States. Students will cite specific textual evidence regarding problems and solutions and will answer questions and complete a timeline. By using evidence and information gleaned from text, students will write a fictitious social media post defending the selection of Ben Franklin's portrait for the $100 note.

There are two sides to a budget—income and expenses. When asked how to best balance a budget, people often respond by saying to reduce or eliminate expenses. In this lesson, students choose a car and a housing option and, using these expenses, determine if the income they earn from the occupation they’ve chosen will be sufficient when other expenses are added. If they determine it is insufficient, they seek ways they could increase the income side of the budget by improving their human capital.

It's often said that a college degree is the key to future success. Choosing to attend college is a major decision for young people. But why is a degree so important? The December 2015 issue of Page One Economics examines two economic models used to study how education, productivity, and income are related.

This half semester class will present an introduction to macroeconomic modeling, particularly economic growth. It will focus both on models of economic growth and their empirical applications, and try to shed light on the mechanics of economic growth, technological change and sources of income and growth differences across countries.

No surprise—people with more education often earn higher incomes and are unemployed less than those with less education. Those with higher incomes also tend to accumulate more wealth. Why? Research shows that well-educated people tend to make financial decisions that help build wealth. Their strategies, though, can be used by anyone.

The FYE 105: Financial Literacy Curriculum Unit was developed for use in a First-Year Experience course to provide students with an understanding of: the relationship between human capital development and potential income and the chances of staying employed; budgeting; credit cards; and credit rights and responsibilities. The curriculum was implemented in an urban community college FYE course and was successful. We provide the curriculum for others who may wish to use it in a similar course.

The second episode of our podcast series, The Economic Lowdown, discusses the building blocks of the economy, the factors of production.

This activity reveals a snapshot of declared church affiliation in 1870. It provides historical inquiry questions for students to evaluate the chart. The questions are divided into the following topics: observe, reflect, question, and analyze. This activity may be used to introduce and engage students in the process of historical inquiry and/or to process and reflect about the influence of church affiliation in the United States.

This activity allows students to compare and contrast U.S. occupational categories and school attendance in 1870 across genders and states. It provides questions for students to practice historical inquiry and evaluate the chart. The questions are divided into the following topics: observe, reflect, question, and analyze. This activity may be used to introduce and engage students in the process of historical inquiry and/or to supplement study of workforce participation in the United States.

This activity features a primary source from the Fed's online archive, FRASER. The activity allows students to see maps depicting the best data available for the U.S. population at the time and to practice historical inquiry skills. The activity may be used as a way to introduce early migration or as a supplemental activity.

This activity features a primary source from the Fed's online archive, FRASER. The Statistical Atlas of the United States Based on the Results of the Ninth Census, 1870 includes a "Chart Showing the Principal Constituent Elements of the Population of Each State" that details U.S. population distribution by race. This activity reviews the layout and format of the chart and provides historical inquiry questions divided into four sections: observe, reflect, question, and analyze. The chart may be used to introduce and engage students in historical inquiry and to reflect about race in the United States.

This 7 minute video provides information on defining human capital and why wages differ for workers. This video will aid in the mastery of standard EPF. 1(d), EPF. 2 (g), EPF. 4 (c) and EPF. 15(a)

"Human capital" may not be the first thing that comes to mind when we think about investments, but investing in education and training is an important economic decision. Learn about human capital and the return on such an investment in the February 2013 issue.

Students have several options for life after high school. While college has been a popular choice, college enrollment for recent high school graduates has dropped, and some people are challenging the notion that college is the best route for the majority of students. This article examines whether college is still a good investment.

Students read the story Journey to Jo'burg: A South African Story and learn about effects of apartheid in South Africa. They also learn about the relationship between investment in human capital and income by examining several careers and the skills required for those careers. Using math skills, students compare the number of people in various occupations and interpret and analyze educational attainment data from graphs and tables.

This course aims to acquaint students with traditional and contemporary topics in labor economics and to encourage the development of independent research interests. The class provides a systematic development of the theory of labor supply, labor demand, and human capital. Topics covered include wage and employment determination, immigration, unemployment, equalizing differences, among many others. There is a particular emphasis on the interaction between theoretical and empirical modeling.

This course is an introduction to labor economics with an emphasis on applied microeconomic theory and empirical analysis. We are especially interested in the link between research and public policy. Topics to be covered include: labor supply and demand, taxes and transfers, minimum wages, immigration, human capital, education production, inequality, discrimination, unions and strikes, and unemployment.

Introduction to the theories of economic growth. Topics will include basic facts of economic growth and long-run economic development; brief overview of optimal control theory and dynamic programming; basic neoclassical growth model under a variety of market structures; human capital and economic growth; endogenous growth models; models with endogenous technology; models of directed technical change; competition, market structure and growth; financial and economic development; international trade and economic growth; institutions and economic development. This is a half-term subject. The class size is limited.

After reading the book My Side of the Mountain, students discuss the human capital that Sam possessed, the investments in human capital that he made and why these investments were important. Students work in groups to help them define and understand the meaning of investment in human capital, and they create a plan for investing in their human capital.