High Economics

Module 1 

• How economics influences our daily lives
• Three basic economic questions
• Wants versus needs
• Scarcity and opportunity cost
• Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility
• Cost-benefit analysis
• Demand and supply
• Equilibrium price
• Functions and characteristics of the money supply
• Money versus currency
• Gross versus net income
• Direct versus indirect taxes
• Progressivity of taxes
• Tax returns
• Savings and checking accounts
• Savings and investment types
• Relationship between inflation, nominal interest rate, and real interest rate
• Government's role in the investment market
• Risk and rate of return on investments
• Budgeting

Module 2 

• Circular-flow diagram
• Factors of production
• Entrepreneurship
• Contributions of entrepreneurs to the developing United States
• Different forms of business organization
• Characteristics of different market structures
• Market competition
• Productivity and marginal cost analysis
• Factors that impact the earnings of workers
• Production possibilities curves
• Capital investments
• Positive and negative externalities
• Impact of externalities on consumers and society
• Wage and price controls
• Natural monopolies and the purposes of government regulation

Module 3 

• Phases of the business cycle
• Unemployment and inflation
• Gross domestic product (GDP)
• Tools and goals of fiscal policy
• Debt, deficit, and surplus
• National budget
• Organization and functions of the Federal Reserve System
• Relationships between consumers, banks, and the Federal Reserve System
• Tools and goals of monetary policy
• Theories of prominent economists
• Traditional, market, command, and mixed economies
• Role of society and culture in economic organization
• Broad economic goals
• Indicators of national economic health
• Absolute and comparative advantage
• Free trade and barriers to trade
• Protectionism strategies
• Consumer Price Index as a measure of inflation
• Effects of inflation on different levels of society
• International exchange rates

Besides engaging students in challenging curriculum, the course guides students to reflect on their learning and evaluate their progress through a variety of assessments. Assessments can be in the form of practice lessons, multiple choice questions, writing assignments, projects, research papers, oral assessments, and discussions. This course will use the state-approved grading scale. Each course contains a mandatory final exam or culminating project that will be weighted at 20% of the student’s overall grade.***

 

***Proctored exams can be requested by FLVS at any time and for any reason in an effort to ensure academic integrity. When taking the exam to assess a student’s integrity, the exam must be passed with at least a 59.5% in order to earn credit for the course.  

 

To achieve success, students are expected to submit work in each course weekly. Students can learn at their own pace; however, “any pace” still means that students must make progress in the course every week. To measure learning, students complete self-checks, practice lessons, multiple choice questions, projects, discussion-based assessments, and discussions. Students are expected to maintain regular contact with teachers; the minimum requirement is monthly. When teachers, students, and parents work together, students are successful.