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

TraditionalNon-Traditional Economic Indicators  The Stock Market  GDP and GDP per capita  Unemployment Rate  Inflation Rate  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,

% 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 – in- between  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

Highest GDP (2010)Top Country to Live Compare 1.United States 2.China 3.Japan 4.India 5.Germany 1.France 2.Australia 3.Switzerland 4.Germany 5.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 7 th

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