Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.1.a:
In making economic decisions in any role, individuals should consider the set of opportunities they have, their resources (e.g., income and wealth), their preferences, and their ethics.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.1.b:
Sound personal finance (money management) practices take into account wealth and income, the present and the future, and risk factors when setting goals and budgeting for anticipated saving and spending. Cost‐benefit analysis is an important tool for sound decision making. All financial investments carry with them varying risks and rewards that must be fully understood in order to make informed decisions. Greater rewards generally come with higher risks.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.1.c:
Managing personal finance effectively requires an understanding of the forms and purposes of financial credit, the impact of personal debt, the role and impact of interest, and the distinction between nominal and real returns. Predatory lending practices target and impact those who are least informed and can least afford such practices. Interest rates reflect perceived risk, so maintaining a healthy credit rating lowers the cost of borrowing.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.1.d:
To be an informed participant in the global economy one must be aware of inflation and have an understanding how international currencies fluctuate in value relative to the United States dollar.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.2.a:
Given that the resources of individuals (and societies) are limited, decisions as to what goods and services will be produced and to whom to sell one’s resources are driven by numerous factors including a desire to derive the maximum benefit and thus the most efficient allocation of those resources.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.2.b:
The choices of buyers and sellers in the marketplace determine supply and demand, market prices, allocation of scarce resources, and the goods and services that are produced. Consumers influence product availability and price through their purchasing power in the product market in a perfect world. Product market supply and demand determine product availability and pricing.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.2.c:
Businesses choose what to supply in the product market based on product market prices, available technology, and prices of factors of production. The prices of those factors are determined based on supply and demand in the factor market. The supply and demand of each factor market is directly related to employment. Debates surround various ways to minimize unemployment (frictional, structural, cyclical).

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.3.a:
As the United States has evolved from an agrarian to an industrial to an information economy, the workplace requires a more highly skilled and educated workforce.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.3.b:
The government’s evolving role in protecting property rights, regulating working conditions, protecting the right to bargain collectively, and reducing discrimination in the workplace has attempted to balance the power between workers and employers. This role shifts in response to government’s need to stimulate the economy balanced against the need to curb abusive business practices.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.3.c:
The freedom of the United States economy encourages entrepreneurialism. This is an important factor behind economic growth that can lead to intended consequences (e.g., growth, competition, innovation, improved standard of living, productivity, specialization, trade, outsourcing, class mobility, positive externalities) and unintended consequences (e.g., recession, depression, trade, unemployment, outsourcing, generational poverty, income inequality, the challenges of class mobility, negative externalities.).

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.3.d:
A degree of regulation, oversight, or government control is necessary in some markets to ensure free and fair competition and to limit unintended consequences of American capitalism. Government attempts to protect the worker, ensure property rights, and the marketplace as well as to promote income equality and social mobility have had varied results.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.3.e:
The degree to which economic inequality reflects social, political, or economic injustices versus individual choices is hotly debated. The role that the government should play in decreasing this gap, including the variety of government programs designed to combat poverty, is debated as well.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.4.a:
Policy makers establish economic goals related to economic indicators including the Gross National Product (GNP), Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Consumer Price Index (CPI), employment and interest rates, and aggregate supply and demand.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.4.b:
The president and Congress determine fiscal policy by establishing the level of spending and taxing in the annual budget. Some tax programs are designed to provide incentives to individuals and businesses that influence private sector spending, saving, and investment.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.4.c:
The Federal Reserve is the government institution responsible for managing the nation’s monetary policy including regulating the amount of money in circulation and interest rates.

Conceptual Understanding - SS.12E.4.d:
Trade policies and agreements (tariffs, quotas, embargoes) set the rules for trade between the United States and other nations. Agreeing on such rules is very difficult because each nation has different interests, and each nation has special interests trying to influence the negotiations.