1. Make Money from Money Citizenship: Consumer Economics

2. 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?

3. Financial Services

4. Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqD 3hnjZBTM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqD 3hnjZBTM

5. Historical Examples 13th Century (1200’s) - Scholars condemn usury, which is the practicing of making unfair loans to someone. 1397 - Medici Family (Italy) founds a bank that operates on the basic principles that modern banks operate under. 1873 - British Journalist Walter Bagehot urges the bank of England to act as a “safety net” lender to British Banks. 1930 - The Bank of International Settlements is founded in Switzerland and creates international banking rules and regulations. 1992 - US Economist Hyman Minsky publishes “The Financial Instability Hypothesis,” which has helped explain the 2007-08 financial crisis caused by bank failures.

6. 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.