Page One Economics®

Keep your students in the know on timely economic issues with Page One Economics. Each issue provides a simple, short overview of a current economic event that offers students an opportunity to use close reading strategies. Special "Focus on Finance" essays cover personal finance. The Teacher's Guide includes student questions and a teacher answer key, plus additional resources and lesson ideas for classroom, extra credit, or make-up assignments.

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Some issues include middle school versions.

Page One Economics: Focus on Finance received the 2017 Excellence in Financial Education Award from the Institute for Financial Literacy.
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2024

2023

December - Credit Cards: The Trillion-Dollar Debt
November - Why Do Bond Prices and Interest Rates Move in Opposite Directions?
October - The Trade-Off Between Fun and Wages Is Real
Focus on Finance edition
September - Is College Still Worth the High Price? Weighing Costs and Benefits of Investing in Human Capital
August - The Rise (and Fall) of Inflation During the Early 2020s
Econ Primer Special Edition
July - What Should College Athletes Be Paid? Market Structure and the NCAA
June - Data Geographies with FRED
Data Primer special edition
May - Why Are Some Social Media Sites Free to Use?
April - Why Are We So Impatient? A Look into Money and Delayed Gratification
Focus on Finance edition
March - All About the Business Cycle: Where Do Recessions Come From?
February- What Is the Best Strategy for Paying Off Credit Card Debt?
Focus on Finance edition
January - Adjusting for Inflation

2022

December - Beyond Inflation Numbers: Shrinkflation and Skimpflation
Focus on Finance edition
November - How Federal Reserve Bank Presidents Ensure “Main Street” is Represented in Monetary Policy
October - Beyond the Hype: An Introduction to Crypto Assets
Focus on Finance edition
September - Income and Wealth Inequality
August - Data Revisions with FRED
Data Primer special edition
May - How Does the Fed Use Its Monetary Policy Tools to Influence the Economy?
April - The Endowment Effect
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
March - Examining Racial Wealth Inequality
February - On the Move: Mortgage Basics
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
January - The Importance of Diverse Perspectives: Strategies for Supporting Women in Economics
Women in Economics special edition
January - Gender and Labor Markets

2021

December - A Dollar’s Worth: Inflation Is Real
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
November - Data Units in FRED
Data Primer special edition
November - Automation and the Minimum Wage
October - Ethical Use of Data with FRED
Data Primer special edition
October - Do You Want an Extended Warranty with That?
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
September - Teaching the Linkage Between Banks and the Fed: R.I.P. Money Multiplier
Econ Primer Special Edition
September - Neighborhood Redlining, Racial Segregation, and Homeownership
Summer - Inflation Expectations, the Phillips Curve, and the Fed's Dual Mandate
May - Minding the Output Gap: What Is Potential GDP and Why Does It Matter?
April - The Anchoring Effect
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
March - The Science of Supply and Demand
February - Coping With COVID: Crises, Young People's Housing Choices, and Preparing in Uncertainty
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
January - Consumer Spending and the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020

December - Unemployment Insurance: A Tried and True Safety Net
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
November - Examining the “Lump of Labor” Fallacy Using a Simple Economic Model
October - Data Citations with FRED
Data Primer special edition
October - Banking Basics
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
September - Measuring Financial and Economic Risk with FRED
Data Primer special edition
September - COVID-19's Effects on the Economy and the Fed's Response
August - The Fed's New Monetary Policy Tools
Econ Primer special edition
Summer - Temporary Open Market Operations and Large-Scale Asset Purchases
May - Independence, Accountability, and the Federal Reserve System
April - Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Payment Services
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
March - Making Sense of Private Debt
February - Renters and Homeowners Insurance: When the Unexpected Happens
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
January - Your Social Security Number: The 9-Digit Evolution
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version

2019

December - Should We Fear the Inverted Yield Curve?
November - Making Sense of the National Debt
October - Money and Missed Opportunities
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
September - The Affordable Care Act: More Health Care Services at Lower Cost?
May - A New Frontier: Monetary Policy with Ample Reserves
April - Fast Cash and Payday Loans
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
March - How Economics Informs Environmental Policy: A Case Study of Shale Gas and Oil
February - Cars and Cash: What To Know Before You Go
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
January - Will Your Smartphone Get You a Job?

2018

December - Individual Income Tax: The Basics and New Changes
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
November - The Economics of Flying: How Competitive Are the Friendly Skies?
October - Get an Education, Even if It Means Borrowing
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
September - How Do Imports Affect GDP?
May - The Economics of Natural Disasters
April Bonus Edition - Bankruptcy: When All Else Fails
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
April - Smart Phones and Budget Changes
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
March - Bitcoin: Money or Financial Investment?
February - On the Move: Renting Basics
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
January - Will Robots Take Our Jobs?

2017

December - Credit Bureaus: The Record Keepers
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
November - Does International Trade Create Winners and Losers?
September - Why Are Some Countries Rich and Others Poor?
May - The Economics of Subsidizing Sports Stadiums
April - Advertising: Dollars and Decisions
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
March - The Productivity Puzzle
February - Insurance: Managing Risk and Balancing Responsibility with Affordability
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
January - Education, Income, and Wealth

2016

December - Income Tax: Facts and Filings
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
November - International Trade
Includes middle school version
October - Financing Businesses and Public Projects with Stocks and Bonds
Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school version
September - Why Is It So Difficult To Buy a High-Quality Used Car?
May - Soft Skills: Success May Depend on Them
April - Stock Market Strategies: Are You an Active or Passive Investor?
March - The Smart-Chip Credit Card: A Current Solution
Focus on Finance edition
February - Making Sense of Unemployment Data

2015

December - College: Learning the Skills To Pay the Bills?
November - Peer-to-Peer Lending
Focus on Finance edition
October - What's in Your Market Basket? Why Your Inflation Rate Might Differ from the Average
May - Falling Oil Prices Create Winners and Losers
April - From Coins to Big Bucks: The Evolution of General Purpose Reloadable Prepaid Cards
Focus on Finance edition
March - Is a Strong Dollar Better than a Weak Dollar?
January - Would a Gold Standard Brighten Economic Outcomes?

2014

November - Smoothing the Path: Balancing Debt, Income, and Saving for the Future
September - Economics and the Environment
May - The Economics of Immigration: A Story of Substitutes and Complements
March - Would Increasing the Minimum Wage Reduce Poverty?
January - The Rising Cost of College: Tuition, Financial Aid, and Price Discrimination

2013

November - The Global Economy: It's a Small World After All
October - Why Scarce Resources Are Sometimes Unemployed
September - What Are the “Ingredients” for Economic Growth?
August - Making Sense of the Ups and Downs of Prices
May - GDP: Does It Measure Up?
April - Prices: The Marketplace’s Communication System
March - Money and Inflation: A Functional Relationship
February - Investing in Yourself: An Economic Approach to Education Decisions
January - Choices Are Everywhere: Why Can’t We Just Have It All?

2012

November - The Output Gap: A "Potentially" Unreliable Measure of Economic Health?
October - The Great Inflation: A Historical Overview and Lessons Learned
September - Higher Gasoline Prices: Temporary or Time to Buy a Hybrid?
August - The Legacy of the Olympics: Economic Burden or Boom?
May - Wait, Is Saving Good or Bad? The Paradox of Thrift
April - “Dewey Defeats Truman”: Be Aware of Data Revisions
March - Gini in a Bottle: Some Facts on Income Inequality
February - Traditional Versus Shadow Banking

Go to the Page One Economics website to view more past issues »

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