Kiddynomics: An Economics Curriculum for Young Learners is a set of lessons designed to introduce young children to the economic way of thinking. Informed decision-making is a critical thinking skill that students can use throughout their school, personal, and work lives. And, as citizens in a democratic society, they should understand basic principles of how the economy operates. Beginning economic education early and building on that learning throughout students’ education is the best way to ensure they develop vital decision-making skills.

This is a 5 minute video that covers the labor market and what factors contribute to the laws of supply and demand to determine the amount of labor employed and wages. This video will meet standard EPF.4 with a review of EPF. 2(a) and (F) and EPF. 3(a)

In Episode 10, young people who are looking for that first job can learn about the basics of the labor market in this country. A brief explanation is given of the roles played by education, supply, demand, productivity and government regulation.

Competition, sportsmanship, and national pride are the foundations of the Olympics, but how much do the Olympics cost the host city and country? What are some of the economic benefits and deficits? Is the investment in the Olympics worth it in the end? Read about previous host experiences with the economic side of the Olympics in the August 2012 issue.

Students learn about saving, savings goals, interest, borrowing and opportunity cost by reading Less Than Zero. Students use a number line and a line graph to track spending and borrowing in the story.

This online activity shows how to use FRED, the Federal Reserve's free economic data website, to measure changes in the cost of living in your lifetime. Each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects data on prices consumers pay for tens of thousands of goods and services, everything from software to car insurance. Using rigorous statistical methods, the BLS transforms this mountain of price data into the consumer price index (CPI). The CPI is a numerical index that measures inflation by tracking monthly changes in prices urban dwellers pay for a diverse market basket of thousands of goods and services. Following simple instructions, you will locate the overall level of U.S. consumer prices as it existed on your birth date. You will then compare that level with the level today to see how prices have inflated during your lifetime. FRED's ability to create a graph with a custom index scale will allow you to visualize the rise in prices over your lifetime.

Students are read the story Little Nino's Pizzeria and identify the inputs in a pizza, categorizing them as intermediate goods, natural resources, human resources, and capital resources. They use a Venn diagram to sort attributes of each restaurant mentioned in the story and the attributes the restaurants share. As an assessment, students write a restaurant review, categorizing the inputs of pizza.

Students learn about consumers and producers and give examples from the book The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza. They become producers by making bookmarks. The students draw pictures on their bookmarks of something that happened at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the story. They become consumers when they use their bookmarks to mark a page in a book they are reading.

Have you ever heard someone say "Back in my day, a gallon of gas cost a quarter!" Comparing today's prices with prices "back in the day" can be misleading. Both inflation and deflation between then and now have to be taken into account. Read the August 2013 issue to learn more about the effects of inflation on prices.

Students will compare the price of goods from one time period to another and through discussion and role play interpret the effects of inflation on consumers. They will categorize goods and services according to the eight major groups of the consumer price index and be able to determine the difference between the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the core CPI.

The eighth episode of our podcast series answers a crucial economic question: Where do prices come from? Listeners discover that supply and demand work together like the two blades of a scissors to determine the market equilibrium – and the prices of the things you buy.

FRED® (Federal Reserve Economic Data) provides access to a wide range of time-series data. Several of those series signal stress levels in financial markets and the probability of economic recession. This Special Edition of Page One Economics® describes indexes of financial and economic recession risk to new data users and can serve as a reference to advanced data users.

Students listen to the story Meet Kit about a young girl's life in America during the Great Depression. They learn through discussion and role-playing about the impact that unemployment and reduced consumer and business spending can have on people's lives.

In the book, Messy Bessey's Holidays, Bessey wants to make holiday cookies to give as presents to her friends. Students learn the factors of production, natural resources, human resources and capital resources (capital goods); as well as the intermediate goods used in making cookies. As assessment of knowledge, students classify factors of production and intermediate goods.

Potential output is an estimate of what the economy could produce. Actual output is what the economy does produce. If actual is below potential a negative output gap there is “slack” in the economy. If actual is above potential—a positive output gap—resources are fully employed, or perhaps overutilized. The May 2021 issue of Page One Economics® explains how the output gap is useful for checking the health of the economy. It also points out how errors in the estimation of potential real GDP can reduce the effectiveness of policy.

When it comes to the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve has a very important role to play. Whether you realize it or not, its decisions affect you. In this episode of The Economic Lowdown podcast series, you’ll learn about how the Federal Reserve uses monetary policy to influence the economy.

Inflation, unemployment, recession, economic growth—these economic concepts affect people in very real ways. In this course containing three interactive, thought-provoking lessons, you will learn about monetary policy, the avenue by which the Federal Reserve System attempts to influence the economy.

This short video describes the use of the interest rate on bank reserves as a tool of monetary policy.

Students listen to a story written in rhyme about a bunny who has a lot of money in her piggy bank. Students distinguish between spending and saving and goods and services. They play a matching game to review the content of the story and to practice rhyming words.

They say that "money makes the world go round." Just imagine a world without money as our method of payment for everyday transactions. Without money, we would all need to barter for necessary goods and services. For example, suppose an accountant needs to have her car fixed. Under a barter system, she would have to find someone who needed some tax advice in exchange for car repairs. The search to find a barter partner is time consuming and wasteful. Money solves this problem and many others. Read more about the three main functions of money and the damaging effects of too much inflation on these functions in the March 2013 issue.