Transcript Signs of Economic Times

Signs of Economic Times
Activity 1
Get with a partner
Write down on a piece of paper “indicators”
of how our economy is doing
(HINT: where do we see whether the
United States is doing well or is in
trouble?)
Write down a minimum of 5
Economic Indicators
Traditional
The Stock Market
GDP and GDP per
capita
Unemployment
Rate
Inflation Rate
Non-Traditional
Adult literacy rate
Children in poverty
Number of
homeless
Amount of leisure
time
What is the Current Situation?
Trends Since 1980
Activity 2
1. Get with your group and read your
article
2. Within your group discuss what it was
talking about (you will be sharing what
you read to the entire class)
3. One person needs to write the
summary and record all of the main
points
Increase in Number of Total Employees and
Temp Help Employees, 1990 - 2004
% of Employees Covered by Health
Insurance and Retirement Plans
Question to Consider?
In the 1950’s, 60s, and 70s, people could get
a job with just a high school education and
support a family, buy a house, pay for college
for their children and retire with a pension.
Now jobs people obtain with a high school
degree don’t even pay enough to cover the
costs of rent and food
Question: Do you think people should be paid
a living wage regardless of their education
level? Why or why not?
Activity 3
Listen to each statement and pick a side: right
side- agree, left side – disagree, middle – inbetween
You know a community, or a particular place is
healthy and/or successful because…
 It has a low crime rate
 It has a high level of academic achievement
 The houses are big and the cars are new
 The adults have a lot of leisure time
 Many of the mothers do not work and spend the day with
their children
 There are many store for shopping
Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) the total value of all final goods and
services produced in a country during one
year
consumer spending for food, clothing, housing,
etc.
Business spending for buildings, equipment,
and inventory
Government spending to pay employees and to
buy supplies and other goods and services
The exports of a country less the imports of a
country
GDP per capita
Our output per
person
Calculated by dividing
GDP by the total
population
Compare
Highest GDP (2010)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
United States
China
Japan
India
Germany
Top Country to Live
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
France
Australia
Switzerland
Germany
New Zealand
Information based on Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment,
Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, Climate. (NOTE: United States was
Ranked 7th
http://internationalliving.com/2010/02/quality-of-life-2010/
Things to Consider
The average vacation time in the US is 2 weeks per
year while some countries are required by law to
have at least 6 weeks per year
People in US spend 6 hours a week shopping and
40 min. a week playing with their children
The average US person is working 36 hours more
in 2005 than in 1990
The average US person spends over 100 hours a
year commuting to and from work