Economics in Action

About This Course

Economics in Action is a full 16-week course designed for upper-level high school students that relies heavily on the Austrian School of economics. The course has been taught since the 2017-18 school year at multiple Thales Academy schools, a rapidly growing network of classical education private schools based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with more than a dozen campuses spread across North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and soon to be South Carolina.

About This Course:
What makes this methodology of teaching unique is that it uses the individual as the starting point for analysis and uses deductive logic to arrive at economic laws. The “Austrian School” derives its name from the nation of its founders, but is taught across the globe, and emphasizes that economic analysis begins with the logic of individual action.

This course isn’t about black and white graphs, numbers, and data tables. Instead, it is about us.

We make decisions every day, choices that have trade-offs in a world of scarce resources. From this basic premise, it is amazing how we can build out the bulk of economic theory. In this course, students aren’t just asked to accept concepts like the laws of supply and demand as true, they are shown why these laws must be true based upon the true premise that humans engage in acts of choice.

For the parent or teacher, whether beginner or seasoned instructor, Economics in Action will make your life easy. Lessons are intuitive, easily digestible, and build upon each other sequentially to reach major conclusions, often referred to as “economic laws.” The course curriculum comes complete with:

• Textbook
• Modules that include more than 50 supplemental essays and dozens of short informational videos
• Discussion questions for all material to keep students focused
• Homework questions, tests, and quizzes are also included

Guiding you through the course is the teacher’s manual, which includes:
• Answer guides for all assignments and discussion questions
• Answer keys for all quizzes and tests
• Suggested student activities

This course is designed by Brian Balfour, author of the textbook and the Senior Vice President of Research for the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh, NC. Brian received a master’s in economics from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, and has experience teaching economics at the community college and university levels.

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