WEEKS 1-16
| WK. | Week Title | Concepts, Terms and Topics | Critical Thinking Assignments . | Group Activities (Optional) | Quiz/Exam |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laying the Foundation | Stewardship, Oikonomia, Imago Dei, the Role of Incentives, Scarcity & Opportunity Costs, Decision Making & Marginalism, Gains from Trade | Why Learn Economics? (Essay) | What's in the Bag | No quiz |
| 2 | Market Basics | Specialization & Trade, Transaction Costs, Zero-Sum Game Myth, Subjective Value, Markets and Private Property, The Invisible Hand, The Role of Prices; Supply, Demand & Equilibrium | 2 Laws, 2 Perspectives, 2 Graphs: Meeting in the Market | Quiz 1 | |
| 3 | Entrepreneurship, Markets, and Morality | Profit & Loss; Helping Others and Receipt of Income; Wealth Creation; Greed & Self-Interest; Capitalism & Socialism; Entrepreneurship; Gift Givers; and Talents | Discerning the Honey from the Hemlock Analyzing the views and ideas of Ayn Rand through a Christian worldview (Essay) | The Ultimatum Game: Assumptions, Proposals and Pay-Offs | Quiz 2 |
| 4 | Free Exchange and Wealth Creation | Jobs versus the Creation of Wealth; sources of Economic Progress; Market Prices and the Invisible Hand; Secondary Effect and Unintended Consequences | Mystery Nations | Quiz 3 | |
| 5 | A Just Society | Morality and the Rule of Law; A Just Society; Legal Systems & Private Ownership; Private Property & Incentives | Research, Respond and Relay: Isms: Which is Best for Human Flourishing? | Paper Clips and Property Rights | Quiz 4 |
| 6 | Competition, Globalization, and a Consumerist Culture | The Competitive Process & Markets; Regulation and Gains from Trade; Globalization and Specialization of Labor; Consumerism and the Consumerist Culture. | You Need a License for That! | EXAM 1 | |
| 7 | Economics and the Environment | Markets and Resource Exhaustion; Resources and Human Ingenuity; Tragedy of the Commons; Stewardship of the environment; Global Warming: Causes & Solutions. | Read, Research and Respond: The Environment— Air Pollution Today | When Will We Run Out of Oil? | Quiz 5 |
| 8 | Capital Markets and Monetary Stability | Capital Markets: Wealth-Creating versus Inefficient Projects; Monetary Policy and Inflation; and Monetary Instability; and Depression and Recession | The Activity that Fails | Quiz 6 | |
| 9 | Economic Freedom and Human Flourishing | Taxes; Freedom; Growth & Incomes, Incentives, and Productive Activity; Gains from International Trade: Tariffs and Trade Restrictions; and Economic Freedom; Growth & Income | Read, Watch, Research and Respond: Discovering Economic Freedom Around the World | Rich Country, Poor Country—Who’s Who? | Quiz 7 |
| 10 | Poverty, Foreign Aid, and the Limits of Charity | Minimum Wage; Poverty in Less Developed Countries; Charity; Foreign aid & Dependency; Population Control and Poverty; Institutions, Polices and Progress Against Poverty. | Minimum Wage—Helping or Hurting? | Quiz 8 and EXAM 2 | |
| 11 | Incentives: Markets vs. Government | Protective and Productive Roles of government; Market Failure, Monopoly; Externalities and Public Goods; Government Failure; Special-Interest Policy; Political Incentives; and Economic Inefficiency | Stimulus Spending and Crony Capitalism | Quiz 9 | |
| 12 | Government Spending: From Entitlements to Cronyism | Budget Deficit; Budget Surplus; Government Spending and Debt; Entitlements; Political Incentives and Short-Sighted Policy; Cronyism | Cutting the Budget | Quiz 10 | |
| 13 | Poverty: How to Help And How Not To | Poverty in the U.S.; Income Transfers & Dependency; Unintended Consequences of Transfers and Subsidies; The Ingredients of Wealth Creation; The Immaterial Drives of Wealth Creation and Charity | Read, Research, Record, Respond and *Relay: Where Does the Solution Begin? Understanding Poverty Alleviation Efforts in YOUR Community | Poverty—Causes and Cures | Quiz 11 |
| 14 | Central Planning or Market Order | Relative and Absolute Poverty; The Income Gap / Zero-Sum-Game-Myth; Central Planning; Politics and Resource Allocation; Competition Among Governments; Constitutional Rules for Prosperity | *Relay Student CT Assignment Presentations | No quiz | |
| 15 | Being A Good Steward | Sources of Happiness; Earned Success; Purposefulness of Work; Stewardship and Character | Final Project Presentations | Quiz 12 and EXAM 3 | |
| 16 | Personal Finance Essentials (optional week) | Comparative Advantage; Budgeting; Debt Financing; Credit Cards, Sensible Spending; Strategic Saving; The Power of Compound Interest; Teach Others Sound Financial Principles; The Importance of Giving. | Personal Finance: Budgeting Basics | Career Choices: What Kind of Career Path Do You Have in Mind? | Quiz 13 |