Social Studies 30: Economics

This series explores philosophical questions in a lighthearted way. There are 24 episodes that average about 3 minutes in length.

This series explores philosophical questions in a lighthearted way. There are 24 episodes that average about 3 minutes in length.

We compare Bulgaria and Germany and examine how capitalism and communism impact their economies.

Learn how capitalism arose from the Industrial Revolution, and then gave rise to socialism.

Learn the difference between planned economies and market economies.

What is a monopoly? It turns out, it's more than just a board game. It's a terrible, terrible economic practice in which giant corporations dominate markets and hurt consumers. Except when it isn't. In some industries, monopolies are the most efficient way to do business.

So, everybody knows that the Great Depression started with the stock market crash in 1929, right? Not exactly. The Depression happened after the stock market crash, but wasn't caused by the crash. John will teach you about how the depression started, what Herbert Hoover tried to do to fix it, and why those efforts failed.

The New Deal was president Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan to pull the United States out of the Great Depression of the 1930s. John will tell you how the New Deal changed the relationship between the government and citizens, and will even reveal just how the Depression ended.

This video identifies the most common systems around the world, and names the economists who advocated these systems. It discusses the fundamentals of the free-market, centrally-planned, and mixed economic systems.

Hasan dissects one of America's most pressing issues: the rising cost of prescription drugs. Hasan breaks down how America’s complicated healthcare industry has lead to these price hikes over the past few decades.

Explore the different types of capitalism, how they operate, and how they impact issues like climate change and rising inequality.

Learn why the Bank of Canada was created and how it continues to promote the economic and financial welfare of Canadians.

Just like you, the government sometimes needs a little financial help with large projects. Learn how the Bank of Canada handles funding for the government by selling bonds: short-term loans made by businesses and individuals to the government

This web resource helps educate Canadians on the mechanics of their economy and the Bank of Canada’s role in it. It’s written in fun, clear language and supplemented with helpful illustrations.

This site has several great videos about the federal budget in Canada and how it impacts students. The teaching tools section has activities that teachers can use with students.

Karl Marx remains deeply important today not as the man who told us what to replace capitalism with, but as someone who brilliantly pointed out certain of its problems.

This video explains Keynesian economics, the idea of the multiplier effect, the broken window fallacy, and the tradeoffs of government spending to get out of a recession.

Keynesian Economics proposes a path out of economic recessions: government spending to 'prime the pump'.

Scroll down to find 17 episodes that examine how monopolies rise to the top of the economic food chain.

Scroll down to find "The Economics of Everyday Things" podcast. In bite-sized episodes, journalist Zachary Crockett looks at quotidian things and finds amazing stories.

In this BBC podcast, Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to make sense of the statistics which surround us.

Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At Planet Money, we explore the forces that shape our lives.