Many people love a roller coaster’s thrilling ups and downs. When it comes to the economy, however, most people would prefer to avoid a wild ride. In fact, most like a smooth ride with very few dips. This episode of The Economic Lowdown podcast series describes how the economy moves through phases of the business cycle, and the role the Federal Reserve System plays in smoothing some of the ride's bumps.

Since the Crash of 2008, the Federal Reserve has been "printing money" to stimulate the economy. But won't that just lead to inflation? Speeding tickets are always caused by flooring the gas pedal, but flooring the gas doesn't always result in a speeding ticket - like when you're driving up a steep hill. Likewise, inflation is always caused by printing money - but monetary expansion does not always lead to inflation.

This video provides a basic overview of unemployment and how it is measured. It also provides an understanding of the FOMC's role in promoting maximum employment and price stability.

The fourth episode of Feducation dissects an FOMC (Federal Open Market Commission) statement, assessing the changing communication strategy for transparency and clarity and demonstrating an activity that can be used in the classroom.

How are the money supply and inflation related? And what does the Federal Reserve have to do with this relationship? Episode 1 of the Feducation video series reviews the functions of money, features an interactive auction that demonstrates the relationship between the money supply and inflation, then utilizes a simple equation to show how changes in the money supply affect the economy. The video also describes how the Fed uses monetary policy to achieve its dual mandate of maximum employment and price stability.

Financial institutions are a pillar of civilized society, supporting people in their productive ventures and managing the economic risks they take on. The workings of these institutions are important to comprehend if we are to predict their actions today and their evolution in the coming information age. The course strives to offer understanding of the theory of finance and its relation to the history, strengths and imperfections of such institutions as banking, insurance, securities, futures, and other derivatives markets, and the future of these institutions over the next century.

In previous lessons we've learned how expansionary monetary policy and expansionary fiscal policy can be used to mitigate a recession, but they don't have to be used in isolation from each other. Often there is simultaneous use of fiscal and monetary policy. Learn what happens when they are used at the same time in this video.

This video is only one and half minutes long but discusses the importance of a central banking system separate, but answerable to the US Federal government. It is part of a series (Part 5) on The Gold Standard and will help to ensure standard EPF. 6 is met.

All inflation isn't bad—a moderate amount can signal a healthy economy. But high inflation, such as that during the Great Inflation, can lead to a vicious cycle where expectations of higher inflation lead to further increases in the price level. Read the October 2012 issue to find out what caused the Great Inflation, how tough (and painful) policy brought it to an end, and two key lessons learned.

In this course, superhero Jack of All Trades and his sidekick Andy are confronted by a villain that threatens to disrupt society and rob the world of the certainty people have come to expect. And this dastardly villain is...Inflation. Jack and Andy time travel to the period known as The Great Inflation to discover the truth about inflation. With the help of Dr. Equilibrium, professor of economics, they learn that inflation is the result of too much money chasing too few goods and that the Federal Reserve System plays a key role in maintaining stable prices.

Lesson seeds are ideas for the standards that can be used to build a lesson.  Lesson seeds are not meant to be all-inclusive, nor are they substitutes for instruction.  This lesson seed provides a compelling question and a bank of sources to use to drive an inquiry based lesson or a potential Evidence Based Argument Set (EBAS).  When developing lessons from these seeds, teachers must consider the needs of all learners.  Once you have built your lesson from the lesson seed, teachers are encouraged to post the lesson that has emerged from this lesson seed and share with others. Compelling question:Is monetary policy effective in stimulating the US economy? EL Modification: highlight important vocabulary, add images to improve text comprenesion; consider adapting content, process and/or product based on Can Do WIDA DescriptorsImage source: "Dollar" by geralt on Pixabay.com

This video is 6 minutes long and will explain how the FED operated after the 2008 Great Recession to help aid the economy in recovery. This video will enforce students understanding of EPF. 6 and 7

Want to learn about the Federal Reserve? Have no fear! In Plain English describes the structure and functions of the Federal Reserve System in an easy-to-understand interactive format.

In this 5 minute video, students will examine what inflation is and how it can affect consumers and producers. This video will aid in mastery of standard EPF. 5 (b)

In this course, the student will build on and apply what you learned in the introductory macroeconomics course. The student will use the concepts of output, unemployment, inflation, consumption, and investment to study the dynamics of an economy at a more advanced level. As the course progresses, the student will gain a better appreciation for how policy shifts and changes in one sector impact the rest of the macroeconomy (whether the impacts are intended or unintended). The student will also examine the causes of inflation and depression, and discuss various approaches to responding to them. By the end of this course, the student should be able to think critically about the economy and develop your own unique perspective on various issues. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Explain the standard theory in macroeconomics at an intermediate level; Explain and use the basic tools of macroeconomic theory, and apply them to help address problems in public policy; Analyze the role of government in allocating scarce resources; Explain how inflation affects entire economic systems; Synthesize the impact of employment and unemployment in a free market economy; Build macroeconomic models to describe changes over time in monetary and fiscal policy; Compare and contrast arguments concerning business, consumers and government, and make good conjectures regarding the possible solutions; Analyze the methods of computing and explaining how much is produced in an economy; Apply basic tools that are used in many fields of economics, including uncertainty, capital and investment, and economic growth. (Economics 202)

This 8 minute video will explain the principles of Keynesian Economic Theory and the economist who came up with the idea, John Maynard Keynes. This video will enforce standard EPF. 5 (d)

Have you ever heard someone say "Back in my day, a gallon of gas cost a quarter!" Comparing today's prices with prices "back in the day" can be misleading. Both inflation and deflation between then and now have to be taken into account. Read the August 2013 issue to learn more about the effects of inflation on prices.

When it comes to the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve has a very important role to play. Whether you realize it or not, its decisions affect you. In this episode of The Economic Lowdown podcast series, you’ll learn about how the Federal Reserve uses monetary policy to influence the economy.

Inflation, unemployment, recession, economic growth—these economic concepts affect people in very real ways. In this course containing three interactive, thought-provoking lessons, you will learn about monetary policy, the avenue by which the Federal Reserve System attempts to influence the economy.

In this 6 minute video, a scenario is presented to students who act as members of the FED and must make decisions related to monetary policy. A scenario is presented and then outcome impacts are discussed. This video will aid in the mastery of standard EPF. 4 and 7