Make Money from Money Citizenship: Consumer Economics
About the Unit In the Consumer Economics Unit we will be exploring the following questions: How do banks and other financial institutions make money? What is a public company? What are public services? What is the purpose of education? Why is employment important? What effect does income inequality have?
Financial Services
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Historical Examples 13th Century (1200’s) - Scholars condemn usury, which is the practicing of making unfair loans to someone Medici Family (Italy) founds a bank that operates on the basic principles that modern banks operate under British Journalist Walter Bagehot urges the bank of England to act as a “safety net” lender to British Banks The Bank of International Settlements is founded in Switzerland and creates international banking rules and regulations US Economist Hyman Minsky publishes “The Financial Instability Hypothesis,” which has helped explain the financial crisis caused by bank failures.
Summary Banks and other financial institutions fund their operations by paying people interest to borrow their money and make a profit by collecting fees and interest to lend people money.