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Table of Contents
Economics has almost always been part of our day-to-day activities. Earning money, purchasing products and services, and depositing and withdrawing money from a bank are all examples of economic activity. Individual decisions on effectively using time, money, and energy to maximize our satisfaction are only a few of those we make the most.
See the fact file below for more information on Economics for Kids, or alternatively, you can download our 22-page Economics worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
What is Economics?
- Economics is a study that existed long ago, even before the time of Aristotle. It is a social science that deals with proper allocation and efficient use of scarce resources to satisfy unlimited needs and wants. A “need” is a basic necessity needed to survive, like food, water, clothing, and shelter, while a “want” is inessential for survival, but you would like to possess it for enjoyment. Examples are gadgets, video games, the internet, etc. Good knowledge of economics helps us decide how to utilize our scarce resources best to meet our insatiable wants. It will also teach you that there is no “free” in this world and everything has its price.
- The word “economics” comes from the Greek word ‘oikonomia,’ which means “household management.” It originates at the household level, where the Mother is budgeting the resources to address her family’s needs. When Greek society developed into city-states, it became known as state management.
- It is considered a consumer and producer activity that generates and utilizes wealth. Economics is a social science that studies how goods and services are produced, exchanged, distributed, and consumed.
- It is an inquiry into how individuals organize their consumption and production activities. At the same time, it is also considered a science. It follows a logical process: Problem identification, collection of relevant data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, judgment, generalization, and recommendation.
- Choice and opportunity cost are the two critical concepts in economics. It analyzes human behavior and significantly how the economic decisions made by consumers and producers are affected by a particular change in an economy.
- The discipline answers five fundamental questions: (1) What to produce? (2) How will the goods be produced? (3) How many will be produced? (4) Who will produce the goods? And (5) How will the system adapt to change?
Brief History of Economics
- The earliest record to date is from Ancient Greece. Economics was previously part of Philosophy. At the time, most of the philosophers were also economists, one of them was Aristotle, the first analytical economist and a philosopher who contributed to politics and ethics.
- According to him, every state is made up of Households. He also introduced the master-slave relationship, stating that men are born unequally. He argued that some individuals were born to be ruled over by others and that others were destined to rule.
- Later, economics came under Political Science and then Political Economy.
- It was first recognized as a distinct discipline when Adam Smith introduced his book “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” in 1776. Smith was called the Father of Modern Economics, and his work has become the foundation of all economists after him.
- One of Smith’s general economic theories is “laissez-faire,” or “let it be,” which states that the government should intervene minimally in business since the market can achieve its own equilibrium. He also stated that government intervention was only to provide a legal framework for the state’s actions.
Two Major Divisions
- Economics is divided into two branches, namely: microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics is always associated with the market, individual supply, and demand of the people. It focuses on the small and specific units of the economy, just like a worm’s eye view, that is, a closer and detailed look at the surroundings.
- Microeconomics studies how people and businesses behave in an economy regarding resource allocation and interaction.
- Meanwhile, macroeconomics is concerned with a country’s aggregate demand and supply. It uses the General Price Index, which maintains track of market prices. It studies and develops conclusions in four different sectors: household, business, government, and ROW, or Rest of the World.
- Both of these concepts are interchangeable. A malfunction felt by one is felt by the others, just like the human body. Pain in the pinky is felt all over the body.
Concepts of Economics
Supply and Demand
- The relationship between Supply and Demand is a theory popularized by Adam Smith in 1776. This relationship is crucial in determining the market price of particular goods and people’s willingness to buy or sell them.
- The theory is essential in the study of economics since it addresses the most basic economic problems, such as scarcity and surplus. The Law of Supply and Demand states that the supply and demand of goods affect the price.
- The graph on the right shows the relation of the supply and demand to the price in the market. The Price of the product (P) depends on the balance of the supply (S) and demand (D). The increase in demand caused an increase in price and quantity (Q).
- In short, if the demand and supply are balanced, the price would be balanced as well. However, if the demand is high but the supply is low, the price would increase and vice versa.
Scarcity
- Scarcity, in economics, deals with the unlimited needs and wants of consumers but with limited resources. It is an important concept in economics because it helps people understand how ‘values’ are decided on a product.
- The scarcity of resources affects the price directly. If the product is scarce and the demand is high, the product will be more expensive.
Opportunity Cost
- Opportunity Cost is the value someone sacrifices or misses by choosing one alternative option over another. In other words, it is something someone could have gotten after they made their decision.
- As the name suggests, the expense you would have to pay in exchange for an opportunity – an opportunity for a higher return or profit in the end. To calculate the Opportunity Cost, we must subtract the return of the foregone option from the return of the chosen option.
- This is evident in choosing between cheap house rentals and a more expensive rent-to-own setup. With average house rentals, you pay monthly at a lower price allowing you to use your funds for a different investment.
- Whereas, in a rent-to-own house, you pay significantly more for a promise that, in time, the house will be yours. When making impulsive decisions, this may be overlooked a lot, but careful decision-making would favor the latter more than the former.
- The opportunity cost in this example would be the higher amortization that you pay monthly so that in the end, you get to keep the property to yourself.
Cost and Benefit
- The Cost and Benefit is an analysis most businesses use to analyze what course of action should be taken or what decision should they take. It analyzes the potential reward that would be given from a specific decision or action.
- To determine the possible benefit, analysts would sum all the potential rewards from that action and then subtract them from the cost of taking that action. Analysts use measurable financial metrics in analyzing the cost and benefit of an action.
- The cost and benefit analysis helps project managers to determine whether they should pursue an action or come up with an alternative.
10 Principles of Economics
- People face trade-offs. People must make choices that favor one course of action over another action. Economic decisions usually involve trading off one thing for another.
- The cost of something is what you give up to get it. Every course of action has an opportunity cost which means that people must give up that cost to gain the potential reward.
- Rational people think at the margin. Economists assume that individuals are rational thinkers, this includes consumers. They consider marginal changes that make adjustments to the action. Marginal changes are when consumers consider which product would give them maximum satisfaction within the constraints of what they have.
- People respond to incentives. Incentives are used to inspire consumers to change their behavior. This includes both positive and negative incentives. An example of a negative incentive is when a government imposes higher taxes on alcoholic beverages to discourage consumers from buying them as much.
- An example of a positive incentive is when you are given a medal at school for having a high grade or achieving at a sport. This inspires you to continue your good behavior and will encourage others to change their behavior and become more like you.
- Trade can make everyone better off. Trading can be positive for everyone if they use what they are best at. Trade is not a competition, it could be a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties. An example of this is countries trading with each other to meet their needs.
- Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity. A market economy is composed of collective decisions made by millions of people and businesses. When you consider it, it resembles a cycle. Families determine where they will work, while businesses choose what to create and who they want to hire. In a market economy, these two parties interact where choices are made based on self-interest.
- Government can sometimes improve market outcomes. The government’s helping hand is crucial in markets because they are in charge of allocating resources and organizing economic activity including efficiently promoting the market. The government is also in charge of enforcing rights that will help the market.
- A country’s standard of living depends on its production. The standard of living in a country is correlated with the country’s productivity. If a country produces more goods and services, the standard of living will be higher. Countries should improve their tools and technology in order to produce more.
- Prices rise when the government prints too much money. A high rate of inflation is typically caused by an excess of money in circulation. When the government prints too much money, its value decreases, and more money circulates. Prices follow inflation. The higher the inflation rate, the higher the price in the market.
- Society faces a short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment. The government has a direct impact on the rate of inflation and the unemployment rate. Altering the amount of money printed and taxes can push the two in opposite directions.
Economics for Children
- Economics in simpler terms is the study of how people spend their money and how they earn it. It is important to understand economics because it is part of our everyday lives.
- As students, parents give us an allowance to use in school or elsewhere, which may serve as our way of earning. It is now our decision where we spend our allowances. We consider plenty of options on what product or service will give us the most happiness. This decision-making already shows economics in your daily life. You allocate your allowance to your needs and wants and then you decide which will give you the most satisfaction.
- Another possible course of action is to save up your allowance instead of spending it all that day. There may be a bigger or more expensive product that you want to buy, such as a new shirt, a game console, a skateboard, or something else you will need to save up for. You can choose an alternative action such as buying it at a discount or a different brand that is cheaper. In this sense, you are using economic processes to make rational choices.
- Economics can also be seen in the classical board game, Monopoly. Players in this game strategize on how they could make the most out of their resources despite the constraints. This game also features a buy-and-sell method. Players rationalize how they could balance the short-term benefits and long-term goals.
Economics Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Economics across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Economics, which is about demand and scarcity and how it influences the production, consumption, and transfer of wealth.
Complete List of Included Worksheets
Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.
- Fact File
- Fill me up!
- Tru-economics
- Lens of a Worm
- Needs and Wants
- The Next Logical Step
- Economizing the Problem
- Sorting
- Supply and Demand
- Up or Down?
- Acting as If
Frequently Asked Questions
What are examples of economics?
Some examples of economics include: Supply and demand, Scarcity, and Opportunity cost.
Why is economics important?
Economics is important because it helps us understand the models and patterns of the past, present, and future. These can be applied to individuals, societies, businesses, and governments to manage and improve people’s lives.
What is economics simply explained?
A simple definition of economics is the study of the relationship between resources, the availability of resources, their production, and growth over time.
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Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.