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Eight times per year, the Federal Reserve issues the Beige Book publication, a snapshot of business conditions in each of the Fed’s 12 regional Reserve Bank Districts. Students will collect economic information to write their own report.

Although much attention is given to the mounting public debt, private debt (the debt of households and businesses) is actually larger. The March 2020 issue of Page One Economics® evaluates trends in private debt and what they could mean for the overall health of the economy.

Technology has certainly sped up our ability to deposit funds and pay bills. With mobile devices and the internet, we are able to access and transfer money faster than ever before. Peer-to-peer (P2P) payment services and smartphone apps make it possible to make and receive real-time payments in our ever-changing world. Learn about the various advantages and disadvantages of this evolution in payment services in the April 2020 issue of Page One Economics®.

The yield curve inverted before every one of the last nine U.S. recessions. How do U.S. government bonds shape the yield curve, why does it invert, and is it really a warning signal? Find out in the December 2019 issue of Page One Economics®.

In this lesson, students learn the definition of gross domestic product (GDP) and the composition of the expenditure categories of GDP.

In this lesson, students learn the definition of gross domestic product (GDP) and the four expenditure categories of GDP. Then, they participate in a readers’ theater about castaways on an island who learn about GDP. Students record examples of items produced on the island that are examples of consumer, government, and investment spending. They recognize that, without trade, there is no net export category for the island.

This activity is designed to demonstrate the impact that unemployment and reduced consumer and business spending have on people’s lives. It is adapted from the lesson Meet Kit: An American Girl by Jeannette Bennett, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis—Memphis Branch.

GDP is a useful measure of the health of the economy, and it’s among the most important and widely reported economic data. However, the current “textbook treatment” of how international trade is measured as part of GDP can lead people to misunderstand the role trade plays in the economy. The September 2018 issue of Page One Economics intends to correct misconceptions and provide clear instruction on how imports affect GDP.

Is a natural disaster an economic boom or bust, or is it neither? In this issue of Page One, you will see how recovery happens after hurricanes, wildfires, and floods and how it effects economic growth.

GDP: What Is It? defines GDP, explains its components, and defines per capita GDP.