Lesson 1 Economics: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the concept of economics, what it means to the student, country and world.

1. What is economics? What is your idea of the meaning of economics? 2. Does the following definition satisfy the real meaning? Explain.

• Economics is the study of how people choose to allocate scarce resources to satisfy their unlimited wants. There are several words in this definition that should be emphasized. First, people allocate scarce resources. If there was enough of a resource to go around so that everyone could have as much as he or she wanted, there would be no need to allocate.

• The definition states that people have unlimited wants. Notice that it says wants, not needs. People act on the basis of their wants, not necessarily on the basis of their needs. (Otherwise they would not buy strawberry sundaes.) If each of us made a list right now of the top ten things we would like to have and our fairy godmother popped out of the air and gave us what we wanted, most of us immediately would find that there are ten more things we'd like to have. Because resources are scarce and wants are unlimited, economics studies the best way to allocate resources so that none are wasted.

3. What is your idea of the meaning of money?

Consumerism

1. Listen and follow along with the songs about money.

2. What is/are the meanings of each song?

3. Read the article about spending.

4. Read the article about consumerism.

5. In groups evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of consumerism and present it to the class. Also state any recommendations that you think are needed.

S pend, Spend, Spend

(article taken from New Opportunities Up Int)

Many of us in developed societies are in a vicious

circle. We work hard so that we can earn more

money. When we have more money, we spend

more. Because we spend more, we have to work even

harder. The circle goes round and round. The result is not

increased happiness, but more stress and less free time to

be ourselves and be with our families and friends.

However, there is growing resistance to this consumer

society, especially from young people. Protest groups are

insisting that some of our money be redistributed to the

third world. Trade unions demand that the Prime

Minister reduce the working week. They are also

suggesting that people should share work and thus reduce

unemployment.

As a society, it's high time that we took these issues more

seriously. We should insist that advertising is more

controlled, especially advertising aimed at children. We

should also make sure that there are constructive ways

for young people to use their free time apart from

spending money. On a personal level, we ought to visit the shops less and worry less about our image. Above all, we should remember that 'being' and 'doing' are much more important than 'having' .

Consumerism and the New Capitalism Edited Essay by R. Cronk

The traditional cultural values of Western society are degenerating under the influences of corporate politics, the commercialization of culture and the impact of mass media. Society is awakening from its fascination with television entertainment to find itself stripped of tradition, controlled by an oppressive power structure and bound to the credit obligations of a defunct American dream.

For the public at large, the integrating and transformative experiences of culture have been replaced by the collective viewing experience and by participation in consumer trends. The American public has been inundated by an unending parade of commodities and fabricated television spectacles that keeps it preoccupied with the ideals and values of consumerism.

Consumerism is the myth that the individual will be gratified and integrated by consuming. The public fetishistically substitutes consumer ideals for the lost acculturating experiences of art, religion and family. The consumer sublimates the desire for cultural fulfillment to the rewards of buying and owning commodities, and substitutes media-manipulated undulations in the public persona for spiritual rebirth. In the myth of consumerism, there is no rebirth or renewal. And there are no iconic symbols to evoke transcendent truths.

While consumerism offers the tangible goal of owning a product, it lacks the fulfillment of other cultural mythologies. Consumerism offers only short term ego-gratification for those who can afford the luxury and frustration for those who cannot. It exists as an incomplete and inadequately engineered system of values substituted for a waning cultural heritage.

The egocentricity of Western society made it an easy target for the transition to a consumer society. As deceptive advertising and academic nihilism gutted culture of its subjectively realized values, the public was easily swayed onto the path of consumerism. In the midst of a major identity crisis, will America realize the lack of morality and humanitarianism in a world based on media image and the transient satisfaction of ownership rather than the ontological value of the meaningful cultural experience? The reduction of cultural values to economic worth has produced a situation in our 'enlightened' society where product availability, as opposed to survival needs, becomes ethical justification for political oppression.

The hallowed dollar is a cheap substitute for cultural values lost to greed and ambivalence in post-modern America. Economic worth has displaced traditional cultural values defining self-worth. Self-worth is gauged by buying power. The acts of buying and owning reinforce self-worth within consumer society. You can see it in the haughty and demanding attitude of the consumer as he stands before the cashier. No longer does the purchase have to be justified by purpose.

Mass media perpetuates the myth of consumerism as a priority of the New Capitalism. As America settles into its nightly routine of television viewing, corporate profiteers are quick to substitute the lure of material luxury and consumer gratification for the fading spirit. Media advertising sells an image -- an empty shell. Corporate America placates its flaccid public with despiriting pastiche. There is only fraudulent illusion. Instead of Swiss clockworks encased in hand carved hardwood, the consumer is offered a cheap imitation of routed particle board and computer chip technology. Who cares as long as it looks good?

Economics Part B (The following will be done in groups in class but you must prepare at home your ideas)