1. Economic Way of Thinking and Capstone Mysteries

2. An Economic Myth Myth Reality Economics is all about the money
Economics is all about how people make choices.
Economics is a way of thinking and understanding

3. Perspectives of the Social Science
History
Time and order of events explain causation.
Geography
Location, region, and resources explain causation.
Economics?
Let’s explore the basic assumptions of economics

4. Why Would Teachers Attend a Workshop on a Subject Most Teachers Love to Hate?
Teachers are very busy people. They have:
Lessons to plan
Classes to teach
Papers to grade
Parent to see
Meetings to attend
And much more

5. Solving Economic Mysteries
People choose.
People’s choices involve costs.
People respond to incentives in predictable ways.
People create economic systems that influence individual choices and incentives.
People gain when they trade voluntarily.
People’s decisions have consequences that lie in the future.

6. Capstone Mysteries Unit 1
Why do an increasing number of Americans, the same people who admire the slim and slender look so often featured in the media, exercise too little and eat too much?

7. True or False Clues
Few Americans know that exercising more and eating less can help many people become healthier. T or F?
Exercise and a healthy diet are free T or F?
In jobs that involve physical work, exercise is like a fringe benefits. T or F?
The Price of food has been increasing. T or F?
Passive modes of entertainment—like television and video games—are popular with many Americans. T or F.
Common jobs in the past—in mining, farming, and manufacturing—were much safer than today’s jobs in technology , law, and finance. T or F?

8. Solving the Mystery
Americans are going extra weight not because they are lazy or because of a sudden increase in the desire to eat fatty foods.
Today many Americans have accepted the new jobs created in a market system that involve less exercise.
Americans have traded thinness and some of the health benefits that came with strenuous, dangerous work to live longer and healthier lives
The cost of physical activity has gone up, prompting people to make new choices regarding exercise.

9. Capstone Mysteries Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4
Why did the Soviet Union collapse?
Unit 3
Why is it that people in diverse occupations, occupations that contribute in very different ways to the social good, earn such different incomes?
Unit 4
How can people acting in their own self-interest contribute to the social good?

10. Capstone Mysteries Unit 5 Unit 6 Unit 7
Why hasn't the Endangered Species Act protected more critters?
Unit 6
How can the unemployment rate increase at the same time the more people are getting jobs?
Unit 7
Since international trade is a relatively small part of the American economy, why is there all the fuss over going global?