“There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Maybe you’ve heard that before. Or you’ve even said it. If so, you probably know it means that everything has a cost. Businesses are especially aware of costs because costs affect profits, and without profits a business might not survive. This episode of The Economic Lowdown podcast series describes how businesses consider costs when making decisions – including about whether to shut down.

It is widely accepted within the study of history that cotton played a crucial role in the United States in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This lesson allows students to understand the specific causes and consequences of the dramatic increase of cotton production in southern states and its influence on the emergence of the nation’s first major manufacturing industry—textile production. Students will read both primary and secondary sources detailing the growth of both northern industrialization and southern cotton expansion. Additionally, students will develop data literacy skills using FRED® (Federal Reserve Economic Data) and other statistical information to analyze the development of the two regions further. Finally, students complete the lesson by responding to an AP U.S. history exam short-answer, three-part question.

In this lesson, students practice counting as the book Counting with Common Cents is read. As they count pennies, nickels, and dimes, they place those coins on the appropriate spot on a handout, indicating how many pennies are equal to a nickel and a dime. They discuss saving their pennies and draw a picture of an item they would like to buy. In an optional activity, they draw pictures or write notes indicating chores they would do to earn 10 pennies.

This online activity demonstrates how easy it is to master key functions in GeoFRED, the data-mapping tool for FRED. In just a few minutes you can create an engaging binary map that will spur comments and questions. The binary map created in this demonstration displays the following data: real per capita personal income, not seasonally adjusted, quarterly, dollars.

Credit bureaus have evolved into big businesses. The December 2017 issue of Page One Economics: Focus on Finance addresses the growth of credit bureaus and how the credit reports they maintain affect both creditors and borrowers.

Credit can be a powerful tool in your financial toolbox if you understand how to use it wisely. In this course, you'll learn about different types of credit and the costs associated with using credit. You'll learn the importance of building strong credit by borrowing wisely and paying promptly, arranging credit for making major purchases like a car or home, avoiding common credit mistakes, and monitoring your own credit. You'll also learn about credit reports, your credit score, and steps you can—and should—take to build your own credit cred!

In this lesson, students first learn how credit history and credit scores are determined. Then, to better understand the protections of the Equal Credit Opportunities Act, they participate in a card-sorting activity where they evaluate creditworthiness based on borrower characteristics, determine which characteristics may be legally considered, and sort the applicants from most likely to least likely to get a loan. Next, they examine a primary source document to see how information that can be legally used to evaluate credit changed with the act. In an optional extension activity, students sort cards again to match primary borrowers with cosigners. They then learn about the pros and cons of cosigning.

Students learn that the loanable funds market is a virtual clearing house matching borrowers and savers. They participate in an activity to demonstrate crowding out in the loanable funds market. They use demand and supply analysis to graphically represent the results of crowding out.

In the story Curious George Saves His Pennies, George wants to buy a new bright-red train, but he does not have enough money. At the suggestion of his friend, George saves his money to buy the train. In this lesson, the students draw an outline of a piggy bank, within which they write a word for or draw a picture of something they would like to buy. This becomes their savings goal. They listen to the story, and as George finds some ways to earn money, the students come up with ways they can earn money to reach their savings goals. Students are introduced to the difference between income and gift money. They participate in an activity where they determine if they are receiving income or gift money and how many weeks it will take them to reach their savings goal. Students also discuss why George did not buy the original red train he wanted.

FRED® (Federal Reserve Economic Data) provides access to a wide range of data from multiple sources. Describing the source of data used in a presentation, written report, or research project with a citation makes that work more thorough and easier to replicate. This article describes the elements of a good data citation for new data users and serves as a reference for advanced data users.

The composition effect makes it difficult to describe diverse populations with a single statistic.

The sixth podcast in this series examines the law of demand. Those who love candy bars will find this lesson especially easy to digest. A demand curve is simply defined, as are the sorts of changes that might affect that curve—all in less than seven minutes.

This is a 7 minute video that is part of the FED of St. Louis' Economic Lowdown series that explains the Law of Demand, the graph shape and what contributes to the changes in demand. This video will cover the standard EPF. 3(a)

Teachers may also find accompanying handouts at https://www.econlowdown.org/

Students are given a portfolio of investments, and they assess the relative risk associated with the products in their portfolios. They later determine which savings and investment instruments might be most suitable for clients of different ages and economic status.

Is international trade good for Americans? The November 2017 issue of Page One Economics provides the ins and outs of trade, including some history, the costs and benefits, and policy choices.

Vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary is the first step in learning a new discipline like economics or personal finance. We can help with that! Create and print flashcards, or have your students create and print their own, from more than 300 economics and personal-finance terms. Create flashcards for each new chapter or unit of study.

Have you encountered mobile payment systems like mobile credit card readers? Pretty cool—and this kind of innovation can be good for the economy. From micro to macro, in this episode of The Economic Lowdown podcast series, we'll take a look at economic growth—how innovation and technological progress can make things happen for the economy over time by organizing the factors of production to be, well, more productive.

Our standard of living depends on the pace of economic growth. That pace can be enhanced through increased productivity brought about by investment in physical and human capital and advances in technology. In this course, students will learn about these tools to increase productivity and advance our standard of living.

How are economics and the environment related? The quick answer is that environmental quality is a worthy goal, but there is an economic trade-off: a clean environment does not come without costs. The September 2014 Page One Economics article, "Economics and the Environment, "provides some economic strategies for protecting the environment.

Years ago, airline passengers enjoyed more legroom and in-flight extras—for a price. Find out in the November 2018 issue of Page One Economics how deregulation increased competition, lowered prices, and created crowded flights.