American Government and Economic Systems

1. American Government and Economic Systems What is this course about? Lets start with what it is not about.

2. This is not a course about . . . 1. dates, facts, and figures that must be memorized and recited, only to be forgotten 1 day later. balancing a checkbook, following stocks, and business management. 3. learning economics as a “dismal science” which would include equations, and an abundance of charts and graphs. There will be some math but this course will not be math driven. 4. influencing your political views in one way or another. 5. simply learning an economic unit followed by a unit on government followed by an another unit on economics, and so on and so forth.

3. So, what is this course about?

4. This course is about . . . 1. Learning how to collect information and making our own interpretations. determining rational decisions, and why people act a certain way. 3. learning economics in a manner that is entertaining and enlightening. 4. influencing you to become an active decision maker. 5. blending both courses together in a manner that allows you to understand the world around and yourself. 6. Integrating other subjects including game theory, physics, nature, statistics, history, etc.

5. The goal is to create a different type of course In the past Often government courses were taught in lecture format and the information that was presented by a well meaning teacher often would not match what was really happening in the real world. In many economics courses that I have attended, interesting economic concepts and questions were overlooked to ensure that students could understand graphs and equations (these of course would be forgotten immediately at the conclusion of the course). Student Interest

6. More than economics and government this course is going to be about you, your classmates, and others. In short, this class is about people. 1. Self Worth 2. Self Interest 3. Rational Decisions making 4. What happens when decisions based on self interest compete with each other? Competition and/or cooperation 5. Equilibrium- a balance of competing forces. Forced, voluntary, or other methods Student Interest Student Interest

7. More than economics and government this course is going to be about you, your classmates, and others. In short, this class is about people. 1. Self Worth 2. Self Interest 3. Rational Decisions making 4. What happens when decisions based on self interest compete with each other? Competition and/or cooperation 5. Equilibrium- a balance of competing forces. Forced, voluntary, or other methods