This simulation activity offers clues to why the American economy went from unprecedented prosperity in the 1920s to unprecedented misery in the 1930s.

A review of the three major schools of thought on the causes of the Great Depression provides deeper understanding of both the history of the Depression and basic principles of economics.

The entrepreneurs who spurred America's exceptional development offer students a model of what can be accomplished when individuals identify problems and seek productive solutions.

An examination of the history, structure, and function of the Federal Reserve System, will enlighten students about the historical debate on the constitutionality of a central bank.

This simulation on OPEC can help students adapt complicated economic concepts to real-life situations in an effective and engaging way.

Some key strategies can help teach American high school students about the reality of poverty in our own country. 

In this inquiry, students analyze and evaluate economic rhetoric related to deregulation through arguments for and against the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 (MCA). The aim is to help students become better, more informed consumers of economic policies.

A thorough classroom examination of the claims and techniques used in an open letter by 137 economists on tax reform can help students become more informed judges of economic arguments.

Angela Breidenstein, Richard Butler, and Nipoli Kamdar Americans believe that economic literacy is an essential component of a good education. In the most recent Standards in Economics Survey of the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE), 96 percent of U.S. adults surveyed stated that basic economics should be taught in high school.1 There are good reasons for this conviction. Economics is, as Alfred Marshall once said, “the study of mankind in the ordinary business of life.” In our personal lives, and in our roles as citizens, we encounter numerous situations in which we need a…

At a time when economics, business, the national budget, and international trade dominate the headlines, economic knowledge and understanding is crucial. The ability to analyze and understand such issues as the privatization of Social Security or the impact of the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) is essential for citizens in a democracy. If we social studies educators live up to our stated mission—to “teach students the content knowledge, intellectual skills, and civic values necessary for fulfilling the duties of citizenship in a participatory democracy”—economics should be as important…