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Inflation numbers are important economic indicators. But thinking beyond the numbers reveals a deeper reality. Some businesses respond to inflation with shrinkflation and skimpflation. Learn about these practices and their effect on consumers.

The January 2023 issue of Page One Economics® discusses how price indexes can be used to transform nominal wages and interest rates into real, or inflation-adjusted, values.

In this module, students will learn about the history of payments and the Federal Reserve’s role in the payments system.

This Page One Economics® Econ Primer describes key measures of inflation, including the consumer price index, and how the Federal Open Market Committee pays particular attention to these measures as it makes policy decisions.

In this lesson, students view a video on the characteristics and functions of money Based on the information they learn, they work in small groups to analyze a series of scenarios and determine which characteristic or function of money is being described

Students participate in a trading simulation to learn about barter and the benefits of using money. Working in pairs, students receive information cards on different forms of money used during U.S. history and identify specific problems with each.

Explore patterns in home loan data with Dr. Raphael Bostic. Learn how identifying patterns can help you answer BIG QUESTIONS and create a stronger economy for everyone.

Learn the story of the growing economy on Planet Novus and focus on the concepts of barter, currency, and banking.

A ¥en to Trade is a set of lessons for students in the middle grades—grades 6-8. These lessons are written to help students understand the basic rationale for making trades, the gains that are possible from trade, and how trading is done between people of different countries. Each lesson teaches fundamental economic concepts such as scarcity, economic wants, resources, goods and services, opportunity cost, and money, as well as international trade concepts such as exports, imports, tariffs, quotas, exchange rates, and trade routes. Most lessons employ simulations and other active-learning strategies to engage students in the learning process and to provide experiences to help them discover why things happen as they do. Students do everything from taking on the role of traders in the real markets to jumping hurdles (to learn about trade barriers) and tossing a ball (to learn about trade routes). Activities integrate other curriculum areas including math, language arts, and geography.

In this lesson, students participate in a market activity in which a market for cake ingredients is set up to demonstrate the process of using a spending budget. They listen to the story Splat the Cat Takes the Cake and answer comprehension questions through a student-led Q&A. By participating in the opening market activity and reading the story, students use what they have read and learned to conclude that the ingredients Splat used were purchased with money that was earned. They participate in a read-aloud activity to identify specific long-vowel sounds and earn Splat bucks. They use the Splat bucks to purchase materials to decorate a cake and track their spending.