Cantù: Chapter 10

Reflection:


"And it underscores what we already know about education – in the long run, it [economics] is the single best investment in stimulating the world’s economy."

 – Dr. Gary Becker, Nobel Laureate in Economics

     Economics. The dismal science. In chapter ten of Cantù's book the focus shifts from history to economics as he ventures into another discipline under the umbrella of social science. As a pre-service teacher, this is one of the subjects that I am most concerned about passing on the content test and of teaching. I am a history major and have only studied a bit of microeconomics and a bit of macroeconomics. In preparation for the content test, I ordered some books that overview the main concepts and thoughts of several social science disciplines, economics being one of them. I found the video links in section one to be short but informative.
     At the heart of this subject is the idea that economics studies not money, capital, nor theories, but choices. Economics is looking at the choices people make in light of unlimited wants and limited resources. Following this line of thought, the Council for Economic Education  (CEE) has created resources in line with their vision of “a world in which people are empowered through economic and financial literacy to make informed and responsible choices throughout their lives as consumers, savers, investors, workers, citizens, and participants in our global economy.”(1) To this end, the study of this discipline is to create educated citizens who can use their informed understanding to actively participate in our democratic society.
     The majority of this chapter is an enumeration of twenty standards in economics. Each standard is accompanied by a multiplicity of web-links to lesson plans using that standard. Listed here the twenty standards are:
1) Scarcity

2) Marginal cost/benefit

3) Allocation of Goods and Services

4) Role of Incentives

5) Gain from Trade

6) Specialization and Trade

7) Markets - Price and Quantity Determination

8) Role of Price in Market System

9) Role of Competition

10) Role of Economic Institutions

11) Role of Money

12) Role of Interest Rates

13) Role of Resources in Determining Income

14) Profit and the Entrepreneur Growth

15) Role of Government

16) Using Cost/Benefit Analysis to Evaluate Government Programs

17) Macroeconomy-Income/Employment, Prices

18) Unemployment and Inflation

19) Monetary and Fiscal Policy

 20) (One appears to be missing)


(1) Cantù, Chapter 10: Section 1


Big Question: How does the analytic approach of economics differ in key respects from approaches appropriate for other related subjects such as history and civics?

Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidYtFL6BxtuMOhB-C0KJ1xesOdvdSFdl9lA0gNdPFJ7hiD4dGvXwd7kGo-L4UuB9wdjni2xTSEKOGF3FunPODJMvAZox2F_0vLdnS-HWMBpwErs8JxABdBEBlhmb5rcF0R2X36SPyQsmCy/s1600/dismal_science.gif

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk

     Fun video on youtube to reinforce ideas about economics and two leading people in this field.