Reading List for June 26-28
Current Events-Stimulus Checks
QOD: What are most people spending their stimulus checks on? Answer: Household expenses. According to a Census Bureau Household Pulse survey, 85.5% answered this way. Of those earning between $75,000and $99,000 who got a prorated check, checks were more likely be used to pay down debt or saved.
If you have a family member in a nursing home, you might want to be sure the nursing home didn’t try to pocket your loved one’s check. (WAPO-1).
The...
Reading List for June 19-21
Economics
Another 1.5 million people filed unemployment claims this past week. The important and telling statistic is the continuing unemployment claims, which have remained above 20 million since late April. (The Street)
The recovery in Retail Sales has been uneven, according to the National Retail Federation CEO. (CNBC)
The market took the retail sales figure as positive news. (MarketWatch)
NPR breaks down retail spending by income level. Folks at lower income levels are spending whatever...
Question of the Day (Update): How Do People Decide What Credit Card To Get?
Answer: Rewards!
Excerpt from the Survey:
Generationally, 33% of millennials (ages 23-38) and 34% of Gen Xers (ages 39-54) say APR is the most important factor when deciding which credit card to apply for, compared with 24% of baby boomers (ages 55-73), the survey found.
Boomers are more likely to say rewards or a card’s annual fee is the most important factor — 40% picked rewards as the top factor, compared with 29% of millennials and 31% of Gen Xers, and 24% of boomers...
Question of the Day (Update): How Do People Pay For Things?
This Federal Reserve of San Francisco report is chock-full of graphs about payment preferences gathered from their 2018 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice. With so many graphs to choose from, I thought this one could kick-start a great discussion:
Just to orient you as to what is being measured here, this graph focuses on the number of transactions rather than the actual value. So, while the percentage of cash transactions might seem high, most of these transactions were for small...
Reading List for June 5-7
Current Events
Of Dollars and Data explains the racial wealth gap mentioned in Tim’s post on NGPF yesterday. WaPo tracks the gap back to 1968…and there has been little change.
Economics
After Thursday’s news that another 1.9 million people files for unemployment last week (AP), today’s unemployment rate announcement stunned most economists, going down to 13.3% when it was expected to go up as high as 20% (Forbes). The recovery of 2.5 million jobs added from...
EdPuzzle Thursday: Are We Headed For a Depression?
EdPuzzle is a great platform to test for knowledge while students watch a video and learn remotely. We will be releasing new EdPuzzle videos here on the blog each week so that your students can answer questions that are directly embedded within engaging videos. In light of the current pandemic, we will also be adding current event videos from Two Cents when relevant. So, on Thursday over the next few weeks, look for a combination of unit specific and current event EdPuzzle videos!
This...
Reading List for May 29-31
Pandemic Round Up
Weekly unemployment claims totaled 2.1 million last week, bringing total claims to over 40 million. (CNBC)
Summer jobs for teens are hard to find this year. (WSJ) (For reference, here is what the job market looked like for teens last summer: unemployment stood at a 50-year low. WSJ)
Amazon is looking to make 125,000 of the jobs it added to deal with the pandemic permanent hires. (TechCrunch)
USA Today sums up the permanent changes in our economy as we learn to live with this...
Reading List for Memorial Day Weekend 2020
By Beth Tallman
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May 22, 2020
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Personal Finance, Current Events, Economics, Investing, Paying for College
A little bit of everything for this holiday weekend as we wind down this challenging year.
Personal Finance
56% of parents with young children are in debt due to coronavirus. (PR Newswire)
Four million Americans are currently not paying their mortgage. (MarketWatch)
If you live to 100, will your money last? (Knowledge@Wharton)
Last but not least, 68% of Americans do not have a will. (The Conversation)
Investing
What is the “dark side” of low interest rates. (NY...
Reading List for May 15-17
By Beth Tallman
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May 15, 2020
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Current Events, Economics, Investing, Student Loans, Identity Theft
Economics
Unemployment claims totaled close to 3 million this past week, bringing the pandemic total to over 36 million jobs lost. (CNBC)
State unemployment systems can’t handle the volume of applications, and many are still waiting for benefits. Here is the story of one New Yorker: (CNBC)
You can probably guess which retail sectors were hardest hit in April. Here are the US Retail Sales stats for April: (NPR-read or listen)
The drop in CPI last month was the largest ever. (USA Today)...
Chart of the Week: What industries are most impacted by the economic shutdown due to coronavirus?
Questions:
What 3 industries had the largest NUMBER of unemployed persons in April?
What 3 industries have the LOWEST unemployment rates in April? Why do you think those industries were least impacted by the coronavirus?
In analyzing the change in unemployment rates between March and April, do you think this pandemic has impacted narrow sectors of the economy or had more widespread impact?
The report indicates that about 80% have identified themselves as being...
Reading List for May 8-10
By Beth Tallman
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May 08, 2020
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Current Events, Employment, Economics, Investing, Student Loans, Personal Finance
The country took time to recognize some VIPS this week: Teachers and Nurses, and Mothers will have their day on Sunday. “Thank You” seems an inadequate expression of our gratitude, especially now! You (teachers) inspire me with your energy, creativity, and agility in providing quality instruction and heartfelt support for your students during this challenging time.
And now for the reading list:
Unemployment
Unemployment reached historic levels in April of 14.7%....
Reading List for May 1-3
Economics
First quarter GDP tumbled 4.8%, the biggest drop since 2008. How bad will the second quarter be? (Marketwatch)
WAPO’s Michele Singletary explains what you may need to do if you haven’t received your stimulus check yet.
Federal Reserve
Bankrate.com recaps the readout from this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
If you want to watch Chairman Powell’s news conference, here is a link: (CNBC)
Unemployment
The unemployment picture...
EdPuzzle Thursday: Economic Stimulus (COVID-19) & Pay Yourself First
EdPuzzle is a great platform to test for knowledge while students watch a video and learn remotely. We will be releasing new EdPuzzle videos here on the blog each week so that your students can answer questions that are directly embedded within engaging videos. In light of the current pandemic, we will be also adding current event videos from Two Cents when relevant. So, on Thursday over the next few weeks, look for a combination of unit specific and current event EdPuzzle videos!
This...
Question of the Day: What's the maximum fee the first time a cardholder is late paying their credit card bill?
Answer: $29 (as of 1/1/20)
Questions:
What do you think are some of the reasons that people pay their credit card late?
Do you think it’s worthwhile to call the credit card company to try and get this fee waived?
Check out this earlier Question of the Day for the answer
Some credit card companies are now allowing cardholders to skip a payment. Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not?
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that...
NEW! NGPF Economics Resource Directory
Thanks to NGPF Fellow James Redelsheimer of Robbinsdale Armstrong High School (Plymouth, Minnesota) for his work creating this comprehensive directory for teachers looking for NGPF resources that weave Economics and Personal Finance together. By categorizing 150 NGPF resources into 11 Economic topics, this directory makes it easy for Economics teachers to find activities that are current, relevant and engaging for students.
Here's the table of contents (click to go directly to the...
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