Federal individual income tax must be paid to the U.S. government, but the amounts paid vary widely. The December 2016 issue of Page One Economics: Focus on Finance addresses basic facts about the tax—its history, purpose, and current structure.

Income and wealth are becoming more unequal over time. The September 2022 issue of Page One Economics discusses how income and wealth inequality are measured, what drives differences among individuals and households, and how growing inequality may affect the overall economy.

The federal individual income tax is certain. The December 2018 issue addresses basic facts about the federal individual income tax and the new changes in taxation laws in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

In this 5 minute video, students will examine what inflation is and how it can affect consumers and producers. This video will aid in mastery of standard EPF. 5 (b)

The fourth episode of our podcast series, The Economic Lowdown, discusses three aspects of inflation: what it is, what causes it and how it is measured. The episode also addresses related topics such as deflation, disinflation and the role of the Federal Reserve in monitoring inflation.

This Summer 2021 issue of Page One Economics describes how to think about stable prices, how inflation has evolved in recent years, how the relationship between inflation and employment is changing, and what the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has recently stated about its strategy to meet its price stability goal.

Students learn the concepts of money and inflation in the context of world history. They first participate in a role play to learn how debasement increased the Roman money supply and caused inflation in the Roman Empire. They receive a soldier’s wages in coins (candy) and participate in an auction, and then receive higher wages in debased coins (candy) and participate in a second auction. They compare the outcomes of the auctions and learn that inflation occurs when “too much money is chasing too few goods” and that this outcome characterized the economy during the last centuries of the Roman Empire. Finally, students analyze historical data and read historical quotes that show how people in the Roman Empire responded to inflation.

Students will examine and interact with two economic data websites—FRED®, of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)—to develop their understanding of the information creation process. They will learn about differences between data aggregators and data sources and the capabilities and constraints of each in presenting economic data. Students will examine in detail gross domestic product (GDP) data.

When tragedy strikes, how do people avoid bearing all of the costs of their loss? Learn more in the February 2017 issue of Page One Economics: Focus on Finance.

Insurance: Protecting Yourself from Damage is the sixth video in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis series, "No-Frills Money Skills." This episode begins with examples of activities with varying amounts of risk and introduces insurance, explaining how it is used to transfer or reduce risk. With a story about a homeowner, students learn several key insurance related concepts and terms. The content for these videos was reviewed by members of the Missouri Insurance Education Foundation.

As Adam Smith said, everyone lives by exchanging. They exchange—buy and sell—to make themselves better off. Does the same principle apply to international trade? Do nations benefit from importing and exporting? The November 2016 issue of Page One Economics explains the basics of international trade and its importance to the economy.

"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.

Strong is usually preferred over "weak." But for the value of a country's currency, it's not that simple. "Strong" isn't always better, and "weak" isn't always worse. Learn more about foreign exchange rates in the March 2015 newsletter—"Is a Strong Dollar Better than a Weak Dollar?"

It's Your Paycheck! is designed for use in high school personal finance classes. The curriculum contains three sections: "Know Your Dough," "KaChing!" and "All About Credit." The lessons in each of these sections employ various teaching strategies to engage students so that they have opportunities to apply the concepts being taught. Each lesson includes black-line masters of the handouts and visuals needed to teach the lesson.

Students learn and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using credit. They read a scenario about a young person's use of a credit card and answer questions regarding repayment. They learn about credit history, credit reports and credit-reporting agencies.

It's Your Paycheck! is designed to introduce personal finance content. Course participants learn about a variety of personal finance topics including the link between education and income, budgeting, the benefits of saving, and credit reports. These learning modules will help participants make sense of W-2s, W-4s, pay -day Loans and APRs in an interactive online format. It's Your Paycheck! consists of nine individual programs that can be used together or individually to enhance personal finance learning.

This first lesson in the Economics and the Great Migration curriculum uses the art of Jacob Lawrence to teach the history and economics behind the early years of the Great Migration.

Students learn about the Great Migration by combining the paintings of Jacob Lawrence with economic concepts. In the lesson, students are shown paintings from Jacob Lawrence’s The Migration Series. They are asked to match economic concepts and graphs to the paintings, helping the students understand how different disciplines view an event in history. While it is helpful if students have been exposed to supply and demand and graphical analysis before the lesson, it is not required. Part of the fun is to match the many modes of communication—paintings (visual) to captions (words) to economic concepts and graphs—even when a student may be unfamiliar with paintings or economic concepts.

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.

In this lesson, students learn about saving, savings goals, and income. They listen to the book Just Saving My Money by Mercer Mayer, a story about how Little Critter saves his money to buy a skateboard. Students use clues in the book's text and pictures to answer questions. After listening to the story, students play a game where they each have a savings goal, earn income, and save money until that savings goal is met. Students write math sentences to determine whether they have saved enough to reach their goals. Students also set their own savings goals and tell how they could earn income to meet them.