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Understanding U.S. Economic History and Indicators

Explore the evolution of the U.S. economy from bartering to information-based, key economic indicators like GDP, unemployment, inflation, and national debt. Learn about stages of the business cycle and factors shaping the economy. Discover the role of Congress, the President, and the Federal Reserve in guiding economic policies for prosperity and recovery.

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Understanding U.S. Economic History and Indicators

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  1. Chapter 3 Economic Activity in a Changing World

  2. 3.1 U.S. Economic History • How would you describe our local economy? • What changes have you seen in the economy in your lifetime? • What information have you gained about the economy from history or social studies classes?

  3. 3.1 U.S. Economic History • Early 1600’s, the colonist bartered, or traded goods and services. This is what created our service-based economy. • 1700’s farming was the common way of life. This helped form the agriculture-based ecomony. • Mid 1850’s, the Industrial Revolution. This started the industry-based economy. • 1900’s saw the rapid rapid movement of information, and the invention of computers. This created the information-based economy. • We currently live in the information age. • Agriculture , industry services, and information all contribute to the health of our U.S. economy.

  4. Measuring Economic Activity • Economic Indicators measure Economic performance. In the economy, they measure: • How much a country is producing • Whether its economy is growing • How it compares to other countries • Just as in baseball they measure a players performance with statistics.

  5. Measuring Economic Activity • Gross Domestic Product (GDP)- • Standard of Living- • Unemployment Rate- • Rate of Inflation- • National Debt-

  6. Measuring Economic Activity • Gross Domestic Product (GDP)- • The total value of the goods and services produced in a country in a given year. • Most important indicators of how an economy is doing. • Compute: the sum of goods and services sold to businesses, consumers, the government, and other countries • U.S. has a high GDP compared to other countries.

  7. Standard of Living • The level of material comfort as measured by the goods and services that are available. • The more goods and services produced per person, the higher the standard of living. • U.S. has a high standard of living because of its productive workforce. This goes back to the U.S. having a free-enterprise system, the wealth created by businesses benefits the entire community because of businesses paying taxes and providing jobs.

  8. Unemployment Rate • The measure of the number of people who are ABLE and WILLING to work but cannot find work during a given time.

  9. Rate of Inflation • Inflation is a general increase in the price of goods and services. • Causes of inflation: • After a war because of scarce resources. • Increase in the costs of raw materials, expenses, and salaries. • When the government allows too much money to circulate in the economy. • Deflation is a general decrease in the price of goods and services. • When an economy produces more goods than people want, sellers have to lower their prices and also cut production. As a result people have less money to buy goods, so the demand also goes down.

  10. National Debt • The main source of income for a government is taxes. National debt is the amount of money a government owes. • Government used taxes to pay for programs such as defense, education, and Social Security. • Budget Deficit- when the government spends more on programs than it collects in taxes. • If a country’s debt gets too large, it may have to rely on another country or borrow more money. • Budget Surplus- when a governments revenue exceeds its expenses during a one-year period. • Governments sometimes use surpluses to cut taxes, reduce the national debt, or increase spending for certain programs.

  11. 3.2 The Business Cycle • Winning streaks with sports teams? • Go through ups and downs???? • What stages of the business cycle do you hear about in the news, media?

  12. Guiding the Economy • Congress and the President enact laws that impact the fiscal policy. • The Federal Reserve (The Fed) is a government agency that guides the economy by regulating the amount of money in circulation, controlling interest rates, and controlling the amount of money loaned.

  13. Stages of the Business Cycle: • Prosperity • Recession • Depression • Recovery

  14. Prosperity • A peak of economic activity • Unemployment is low • Production of goods and services is high • New businesses open • Wages are usually higher-workers have more income • Greater demand for goods to be produced

  15. Recession • Economic activity slows down • Businesses produce less • Need fewer workers • People have less money to spend • Downturns in many industries

  16. Depression • High unemployment • Low production of goods and services • Usually spreads to other countries • Many people are out of work • Fewer goods and services are produced • 1929 Stock Market crash-”Black Tuesday”

  17. Recovery • Production starts to increase • A rise in business activity after a recession or depression • People start going back to work • People have money to purchase goods and services • More production • Can take a long time or happen very quickly • Some businesses innovate-they bring out new products or services

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