In this unit students will examine how ideas and innovations have helped us meet our needs and wants. The consequence of some of the methods we have used to meet our economic requirements have led us to adopt varying economic/political approaches to address areas of concern.
Economics is the study of how to maximize the use of resources to meet needs and wants. Students will look briefly at our Paleolithic ancestors and how they met their needs and wants. Then they will focus on the Neolithic Era and how the division of labour and human wants played a role in the expansion of trade leading to the development of innovations, such as currency to facilitate economic sufficiency.
Students will then investigate the evolution of modern business practices introduced during the Commercial Revolution in Europe in the middle ages. This is followed by an examination of mercantilism which was one of the first examples of government intervention in economic policy and decision making. After examining some of the pros (joint-stock companies) and cons (tariffs) of mercantilism, the emergence of capitalism as a competing ideology will be explored. Along with the development of new wealth as a result of capitalism, the agricultural revoluntion and the Scientific revolution lead to the emergence of industrialism. Students will examine both the benefits and problems created by the Industrial Revolution.
The issues and concerns created by industrialism lead directly to a variety of political/economic approaches. Students will be introduced to the ideologies of Utilitarianism, Socialism and Communism as responses to the economic and social forces which resulted from industrialization.
To conclude, students will determine the possible significance a current economic event or emerging economic trend and anticipate how the event or trench may influence the human experience.