Why Economics?

You might be asking yourself why should you study economics? Why is it important that you understand how businesses make decisions and why governments pursue different policies? The short answer is that it impacts pretty much everything in your life: for example, how much you pay for your jeans and how many types you can choose from, how much tax the government takes out of every hour that you work to pay for things like national defense and fixing schools, and whether you should buy a new car, or just put new rims on your old one!

It is important for you to understand basic economic principles so you can see how government policies and our everyday choices work together to reach a common goal. Economics sounds intimidating, but if you understand how economic concepts benefit everyone, you may be more open to understanding it.

Essential Questions:

• How can you classify examples of government actions within the six economic functions?
• How do the principles of supply and demand work and what effects will they have on purchasing power?