Curriculum The United States Economy

The United States Economy

How the world's largest economy works - consumers, tech giants, shale oil, health care costs, the China shock, federal debt, pandemic stimulus and the new industrial policy.

The U.S. Economy: The World's Largest What makes the United States the world's largest economy, its main strengths, and the challenges it faces. 📄 Read-aloud
The American Consumer Why household spending makes up most of the U.S. economy, how Americans finance it, and why the world watches U.S. consumer data. 📄 Read-aloud
America's Tech Giants and Market Power How a handful of U.S. technology companies grew to dominate global markets and stock indices, and the debate over their power. 📄 Read-aloud
The Shale Revolution How new drilling techniques made the United States the world's largest oil and gas producer, and the effects on energy markets and geopolitics. 📄 Read-aloud
Why U.S. Health Care Costs So Much Why the United States spends far more on health care than other rich countries without better overall outcomes, and the main explanations. 📄 Read-aloud
America's Flexible Labour Market How at-will employment and high job turnover make the U.S. labour market unusually dynamic, and the benefits and costs for workers. 📄 Read-aloud
The United States Economy: Checkpoint 1 Quick checkpoint - five questions on the U.S. economy's size, consumers, tech giants, shale and health care. 5 questions
The China Shock How the surge of Chinese imports after 2000 cost American manufacturing jobs, concentrated in particular towns, and reshaped U.S. politics and trade policy. 📄 Read-aloud
The U.S. Federal Budget and Debt Where the U.S. government's money goes, why federal debt has grown to around the size of the economy, and the concerns about rising interest costs. 📄 Read-aloud
Rust Belt and Sun Belt: America's Changing Economic Map How economic activity and population have shifted from the industrial Midwest and Northeast to the South and West, and why some places thrive while others struggle. 📄 Read-aloud
Immigration and the U.S. Economy How immigrants contribute to U.S. growth, innovation and labour supply, what research shows about wages, and why immigration is so contested. 📄 Read-aloud
America's Pandemic Stimulus How the U.S. government spent around 5 trillion dollars in response to COVID-19, what it achieved, and its role in the inflation that followed. 📄 Read-aloud
The CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act How two 2022 laws launched a major U.S. industrial policy for semiconductors and clean energy, and the debates over their effects. 📄 Read-aloud