A. Economic Literacy

1. Discuss how needs and wants change as one ages and the impact of planning, spending and saving.
2. Explain the law of supply and demand.
3. Compare ways to save money, including checking and savings accounts, stocks and bonds, and the relationship between risk and return in investments.
4. Describe the role credit plays in the economy and explain the difference in cost between cash and credit purchases.
5. Discuss the economic growth of a nation in terms of increasing productivity, investment in physical capital, and investment in human capital.
6. Describe how private industry acquires material and energy resources, provides jobs, raises financial capital, manages production processes, and markets goods and services that create wealth in order to meet consumer and industrial requirements.
7. Discuss how innovation, entrepreneurship, competition, customer satisfaction, and continuous improvement in productivity are responsible for the rise in the standard of living in the United States and other countries with market economies.
8. Compare and contrast the characteristics of the three basic economic systems: traditional or barter and trade, market capitalism, and command (e.g., communism).
9. Explain what taxes are, how they are collected, and how tax dollars are used by local, state, and national governments to provide goods and services.

B. Economics and Society

1. Discuss how meeting the needs and wants of a growing world population impacts the environment and economic growth.
2. Describe the many ways federal, state, and local governments raise funds to meet the need for public facilities and government services.
3. Discuss how societies have been affected by industrialization and by different political and economic philosophies.
4. Describe how inventions and innovations have improved standards of living over the course of history.
5. Compare and contrast various careers, examining educational requirements and costs, salary and benefits, longevity, impact on society and the economy, and demand.
6. Analyze and give examples of how business and industry influence the buying decisions of consumers through advertising.
7. Discuss the need for ethical behavior in economic decisions and financial transactions.