Principles of American Democracy and Economics
A comparison of American and world governments; changing interpretations of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the three branches of government; historical documents such as the Federalist Papers and civic literacy
Fundamental economic concepts and the application of tools (graphs, statistics, equations) in economic operations and institutions; micro- and macro-economics, international economics, comparative economic systems, and measurement and methods
Principles of Economics - CONTINUED
12.3 THE INFLUENCE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON THE AMERICAN ECONOMY
- How the role of government in a market economy often includes providing for national defense, addressing environmental concerns, defining and enforcing property rights, attempting to make markets more competitive and protecting consumers' rights
- The factors that may cause the costs of government actions to outweigh the benefits
- The aims of government fiscal policies (taxation, borrowing, spending) and their influence on production, employment and price levels
- The aims and tools of monetary policy and their influence on economic activity (e.g., the Federal Reserve)
12.4 THE ELEMENTS OF THE U.S. LABOR MARKET IN A GLOBAL SETTING
- The operations of the labor market, including the circumstances surrounding the establishment of principal American labor unions, procedures that unions use to gain benefits for their members, the effects of unionization, the minimum wage and unemployment insurance
- The current economy and labor market, including the types of goods and services produced, the types of skills workers need, the effects of rapid technological change and the impact of international competition
- Wage differences among jobs and professions, using the laws of demand and supply and the concept of productivity
- The effects of international mobility of capital and labor on the U.S. economy
12.5 THE AGGREGATE ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR OF THE U.S. ECONOMY
- The distinction between nominal and real data
- Definition, calculation and explanation of the significance of an unemployment rate, the number of new jobs created monthly, an inflation or deflation rate and a rate of economic growth
- The distinction between short-term and long-term interest rates and their relative significance
12.6 ISSUES OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND AN EXPLANATION OF HOW THE U.S. ECONOMY AFFECTS, AND IS AFFECTED BY, ECONOMIC FORCES BEYOND THE U.S
- The gains in consumption and production efficiency from trade, with emphasis on the main products and changing geographic patterns of twentieth-century trade among countries in the Western Hemisphere
- The reasons for and the effects of trade restrictions during the Great Depression compared with present-day arguments among labor, business and political leaders over the effects of free trade on the economic and social interests of various groups of Americans
- The changing role if international political borders and territorial sovereignty in a global economy
- Foreign exchange, the manner in which exchange rates are determined and the effects of the dollar's gaining (or losing) value relative to other countries