Page One Economics® Lessons

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 lessons for middle school teachers.

Page One Economics: Focus on Finance received the 2017 Excellence in Financial Education Award from the Institute for Financial Literacy.
Read more about our awards »

2023

• 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 lesson
  
  
• March - Examining Racial Wealth Inequality
  
  
• February - On the Move: Mortgage Basics
  Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• March - Making Sense of Private Debt
  
  
• February - Renters and Homeowners Insurance: When the Unexpected Happens
  Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school lesson
  
  
• January - Your Social Security Number: The 9-Digit Evolution
  Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school lesson

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 lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• April - Smart Phones and Budget Changes
  Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school lesson
  
  
• March - Bitcoin: Money or Financial Investment?
  
  
• February - On the Move: Renting Basics
  Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school lesson
  
  
• January - Will Robots Take Our Jobs?

2017

• December - Credit Bureaus: The Record Keepers
  Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school lesson
  
  
• November - Does International Trade Create Winners and Losers?
  
  
• October - Treasury Offset Program to the Rescue
  Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school lesson
  
  
• 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 lesson
  
  
• March - The Productivity Puzzle
  
  
• February - Insurance: Managing Risk and Balancing Responsibility with Affordability
  Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school lesson
  
  
• January - Education, Income, and Wealth

2016

• December - Income Tax: Facts and Filings
  Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school lesson
  
  
• November - International Trade
  Includes middle school lesson
  
  
• October - Financing Businesses and Public Projects with Stocks and Bonds
  Focus on Finance edition | includes middle school lesson
  
  
• 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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