Standards for Fiscal Ship Through the Lens of the Elections

Name: Decision Making

Standard: 2

• Students will understand that: Effective decision making requires comparing the additional costs of alternatives with the additional benefits. Many choices involve doing a little more or a little less of something: few choices "are all or nothing" decisions.
• Students will be able to use this knowledge to: Make effective decisions as consumers, producers, savers, investors, and citizens.

Name: Fiscal and Monetary Policy

Standard: 20

• Students will understand that: Federal government budgetary policy and the Federal Reserve System's monetary policy influence the overall levels of employment, output, and prices.
• Students will be able to use this knowledge to: Anticipate the impact of the federal government and the Federal Reserve System macroeconomic policy decisions on themselves and others.

Name: Government Failure

Standard: 17

• Students will understand that: Costs of government policies sometimes exceed benefits. This may occur because of incentives facing voters, government officials, and government employees, because of actions by special interest groups that can impose costs on the general public, or because social goals other than economic efficiency are being pursued.
• Students will be able to use this knowledge to: Identify some public policies that may cost more than the benefits they generate, and assess who enjoys the benefits and who bears the costs. Explain why the policies exist.

Name: Scarcity

Standard: 1

• Students will understand that: Productive resources are limited. Therefore, people cannot have all the goods and services they want; as a result, they must choose some things and give up others.
• Students will be able to use this knowledge to: Identify what they gain and what they give up when they make choices.