Economics

Course Duration: Full Year

Category: Electives, High School, History/Social Studies

Assessment: Pre-Test, Lesson Practice, Unit Exams, Mid-Term Exam, Final Exam

Language: English

Course Overview

The Economics course provides students with an introduction to the foundational principles of the economics of the world. Instruction ranges from markets and demand, GDP, banking, policy, inflation, and unemployment, to trade, currency and competition. Acellus Economics is taught by Acellus Instructor Mark Rogers. Acellus Economics is A-G Approved through the University of California.

This course was developed by the International Academy of Science. Learn More

Scope and Sequence

Unit 1 - Scarcity, Markets, Supply, and DemandIn this introductory unit students will learn about the production possibilities frontier, the law of increasing, opportunity costs, specialization, comparative advantage, exchange, circular flow, as well as the demand curve, supply curve, market equilibrium for supply and demand, producer and consumer surplus, and capitalism.Unit 2 - GDP, Inflation, and UnemploymentThis unit discusses components of GDP, circular flow in GDP, inflation, nominal vs. real GDP, and CPI. Additionally, students delve into the effects of inflation, phases of the business cycle, types of unemployment, measuring unemployment, and costs of unemployment.Unit 3 - Aggregate Supply and DemandWithin this unit students extend their knowledge by addressing micro vs macroeconomics, circular flow with aggregate demand, components of aggregate demand, the shifting the aggregate demand curve, and short term aggregate supply. Additional concepts addressed include shifting the short-term aggregate supply, the keynesian long run aggregate supply, classical analysis of aggregate supply, and shifting the long-term aggregate supply. Students will also gain knowledge about short-run macroequilibrium, long-run classical macroequilibrium, long-run keynesian macroequilibrium, and growing output via government spending.Unit 4 - Money, Banking, and Financial MarketsThis unit discusses functions of money, money's inherent value, money as debt, time value of money, money and prices, and money supply. The unit also discusses monetary value, the US financial system, the money market, the bond market, the stock market, the loanable funds theory, and creating money with money multiplier.Unit 5 - Monetary and Fiscal PolicyIn this unit, students explore central banks, goals of monetary policy, tools of monetary policy, effects of monetary policy, monetary policy, real GDP and price level, monetary policy and aggregate demand, the strengths and weaknesses of monetary policy, and the quantity theory of money. Students also explore classical economic policy, monetarism, discretionary fiscal policy, non-discretionary fiscal policy, monetarism vs. classical vs. fiscal policy, deficits and surpluses, the laffer curve, balanced budgets, the burden of public debt, as well as crowding out, fiscal and monetary policy coordination, and Say's law.Unit 6 - Inflation and UnemploymentThis unit guides students through demand pull inflation, cost push inflation, short-run phillips curve, long-run phillips curve, stagflation, growth economics, and productivity. The unit also guides students through labor demand curve, wage rate, diminishing marginal utility, marginal revenue product, components of growth, and economies of scale.Unit 7 - TradeStudents begin this unit by learning about why people trade, absolute advantage, types of trade, gains from trade, international supply and demand, equilibrium world price, the trade barrier, as well as implications of tariffs, implications of quotas, and protectionism.Unit 8 - CurrencyThis unit delves into foreign currency demand, the supply of currency & exchange rate, determination, and currency appreciation. Students also learn about currency depreciation, capital account, current account, and current account and currency.Unit 9 - CompetitionIn the last unit of the Economics course, students will learn about monopolies vs oligopolies, pure competition vs monopolistic competition, and the competition spectrum.