Welcome to“Teaching the California High School Economics Course”

Gif Asimos

Jim Charkins

What is Economics?

THE STUDY OF INDIVIDUAL CHOICES CONCERNING THE USE OF RESOURCES AMONG

COMPETING GOALS

GETTING THE BEST AND THE MOST FROM SCARCE RESOURCES

HOW BEST TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS

THE GREATEST GIFT YOU CAN GIVE YOUR STUDENTS

Economic Reasoning

• Not a subject

• Not a course

• A skill

• Like all skills, must be learned, then practiced

• A skill that will be useful to you for the rest of your life

Vocabulary• Goal – something that a person wants to have or do• Resource – something that can be used to achieve

goals• Human capital – skills, knowledge, experience,

personal qualities• Natural resources – resources that are present without

human help, also called “land” • Physical capital – goods that have been produced to

produce other goods and services • Entrepreneur – a person who organizes productive

resources, takes risks, and finds new ways of combining resources to produce a product

Short term goals

• Do something fun after school

• Do something fun this weekend

• Learn to play a new video game

• Learn a new skill

• Earn some money to buy a car

• Get grades that will get you into college

Long Term Goals

• A good life– Friends– A house– Financial security– A good relationship– Respect– Health

Social Goals

Resources – inputs in production, things that can

help achieve goals• Natural Resources, also called Land

• Physical Capital

• Human Capital

• Entrepreneur

Human Capital

Land – Natural Resources

Physical Capital

Entrepreneurship

Some Misconceptions Corrected

• Not resources– Time– Money

• Economics and Finance are not the same– Economics is about resources– Finance is about money– Finance is an application of economic reasoning

– – Finance is an application of economics

Bad News: Scarcity• Our resources are insufficient to

achieve all of our goals or to satisfy all of our wants.

• We can’t have everything we want.

• Wants/goals, not needs

A resource or good is scarce if:

• people want it

• there is not enough of it to fulfill everyone’s wants

• it has alternative uses

• using it ne way means giving up using it another way

Some things that are not scarce

• Trash

• My brother-in-law’s paintings

• Nuclear waste

• Snow in my driveway

• Weeds

• Disease

• Pollution

Good News: Economics

• Using economic reasoning, we can get more from the resources, like pulling rabbits out of a hat.

Scarcity and Economics

• Scarcity (the bad news): we can’t reach all of our goals; there

aren’t enough resources.

• Economics (the good news): we

can get the most from the resources we

do have.

Economics is a tool to address personal issues:

• What college to attend

• Work or not work; how many hours?

• Who to date?

Economics is a tool to address social issues:

• Environment

• Endangered species

• Drug abuse

• Education

• Health care

• World poverty

Economics is about using resources to achieve goals

• Poverty

Economics is about using resources to achieve goals

• Poverty

04/19/23 Lesson 1: Scarcity 23

Individual Goals: What We Want

• Health

• Friends and Family

• Career

• Peace

• Love

• Stuff

04/19/23 Lesson 1: Scarcity 24

Social Goals: What We Want

1. More and better education

2. A cleaner environment

3. More and better health care

4. Greater public safety

5. Less stress

6. Preservation of non-renewable resources including natural resources

7. Elimination of poverty

Here’s the Deal

• Resources are insufficient to reach all of our goals.

• “We can’t have everything we want.• We make choices.• Choices have costs.• So we should be careful about the choices

we make. • The question is always, “What is the best

use of our resources?”

Economists

• Accusation: They tend to rely on market forces. They don’t really care about the poor.

• Response: In general, economists address all social policies by asking three questions:

1. Will the proposed policy achieve the goal? 2. Will it do so in an efficient manner compared to other proposals?

Does the policy get the most and the best from scarce resources?

3. Does the proposal avoid unintended consequences?

• Economists are very interested in making a better world; they just want to do it efficiently.

Economics

• The problem – scarcity

• The goal – maximize individual and societal

happiness

• The method –-- economic reasoning --- how best

to use our scarce resources to achieve our goals

• Goals and resources