Economic System Links

  • Communist Countries provides information about the five coummunist countries left in the world.

Capitalism Youtube Links

The Essential Adam Smith: The Invisible Hand 2:03

The Invisible Hand 1:35

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CqMMxsN_7c&t Jul 31, 2015 Philosopher Adam Smith used the metaphor of an ‘invisible hand’ to describe how individuals making self-interested decisions can collectively and unwittingly engineer an effective economic system that is in the public interest. Narrated by Aidan Turner. Scripted by Nigel Warburton. From the BBC Radio 4 series about life's big questions - A History of Ideas. This project is from the BBC in partnership with The Open University, the animations were created by Cognitive. BBC Radio 4

Communism Youtube Links

Why Cuban cab drivers earn more than doctors 5:00

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-mUZRP-fpo Oct 26, 2015 In Cuba, cab drivers are the one percent. Cuba’s economy works as a central planning model, where government ministries dole out resources and set everything from prices to inventories to salaries. The fact that a taxi driver can make so much more than a physician is a reflection of the Cuban government’s heavy focus on tourism. For years, the central planning apparatus has valued tourism as a key mechanism for both bringing in revenue as well as propagating the idea that Cuba is thriving. Many pesos are collected by the high prices on everything related to the tourism industry.

McDonald's opens in hungry Moscow, but costs half-a-day's wages for lunch, 1990 3:22

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckbfS99N6jY Mar 19, 2019 In 1990, Moscow got a McDonald's restaurant. Inside, customers lined up again for Big Macs, fries and shakes. The reviews were mixed. One man felt the food itself was wanting, while some wanted more. One woman, speaking in Russian, confessed to not knowing what it was she ate. But she did pronounce it "unusual and delicious," adding that "we need more of these places, there's nothing in our stores or restaurants."

McDonald's opens in hungry Moscow, but costs half-a-day's wages for lunch, 1990 3:22

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckbfS99N6jY&t Mar 19, 2019 In 1990, Moscow got a McDonald's restaurant. Inside, customers lined up again for Big Macs, fries and shakes. The reviews were mixed. One man felt the food itself was wanting, while some wanted more. One woman, speaking in Russian, confessed to not knowing what it was she ate. But she did pronounce it "unusual and delicious," adding that "we need more of these places, there's nothing in our stores or restaurants." But the revelation of the cost of a meal under the arches was not a happy one for some. At the price of half a day's average wages, the cost of trying out this new style of food was steep. Outside the city, some of the $50 million spent by McDonald's went to build a processing plant dedicated to turning out 14,000 buns per hour, and where 3,000 tons of potatoes per day became fries and 10,000 patties per hour were made and frozen. ➤ Read more on CBC Digital Archives: https://www.cbc.ca/archives/when-a-canadian-brought-mcdonald-s-fast-food-to-moscow-1.4980247

A brief history of socialism | A-Z of ISMs Episode 19 - BBC Ideas 3:08

Capitalism: Is it here to stay? | A-Z of ISMs Episode 3 - BBC Ideas 3:30

Economic Links

  • The Library of Economics and Liberty provides a good overview of Economic Systems by explaining the differences between market and command economies.

  • U.S. Currency Education Program provides images about the seven denominations and explains design and security features of these dollar notes.

  • The U.S. Currency Education Program has a number of resources to better learn about paper money.

  • Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System explains how much it costs to produce currency and coin in 2019.

  • Econlife sees the world through an economic lens and hopes to share stories about the present and the past from the U.S. and beyond. Topics will vary from soap operas in India to China’s aging population, and whether Starbucks is more popular than McDonald’s. There is always an economic connection.

  • AramcoWorld is a free resource that is published quarterly. It helps instructors offer multiple perspectives on worldwide economic and historical topics.

  • CCEESanDiego.org offers many resources and links to help teach economic concepts. Locate the economic standards for grades K—12.

  • Econedlink.org has numerous resources and lessons including an election economics lesson.

  • MoneyInstructor.com helps teach economic concepts and has downloadable money templates that are helpful in simulations.

  • Econ.org has resources for teaching economics at all grade levels. One resource uses drama to teach economic concepts to young people.

  • Touchstones.org is a wonderful source for short readings on historical topics that are suitable for Socratic seminars. Touchstones Readings in Social Studies is highly recommended.

  • The Economics Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained was published in 2012 by DK. This book is divided into historical epochs and provides a quick background on economic ideas and the economists who put them forth. It's handy for those with a limited understanding of economics.

  • Measuring Worth tries to measure the worth of items by providing users with calculators and other resources about the value of items.

  • Foundation for Economic Education has numerous free courses that provide students with a wealth of knowledge.

  • United States Currency has a lot of images of past bills.

  • U.S. National Debt Clock publishes in real time the current public and private date in America and all 50 States.

  • USSS History tells the story of how the United States Secret Service was formed to combat counterfeiting of U.S. Currency.

  • Denominations of U.S. Currency is an Education Program teaching people about the security features of denominations that help prevent counterfeiting.