Lesson 2.5 Benefits of Free Enterprise

Key Terms

  1. profit motive-
  2. open opportunity-
  3. legal equality-
  4. private property rights-
  5. free contract-
  6. voluntary exchange-
  7. interest group-
  8. patriotism-
  9. eminent domain-
  10. public interest-
  11. public disclosure laws-

Basic Characteristics of Free Enterprise: Reading

12. Categorize As you read “Basic Characteristics of Free Enterprise,” use this graphic organizer to categorize the characteristics and benefits of free enterprise.

13. Draw Inferences What kind of person makes a good entrepreneur? List at least two personality traits of a successful entrepreneur.

Lesson 2.6 Supporting Economic Growth

Key Terms

  1. Macroeconomics-
  2. Microeconomics-
  3. gross domestic product (GDP)-
  4. business cycle-
  5. referendum-
  6. obsolescence-
  7. patent-
  8. copyright-
  9. work ethic-

Academic Vocabulary

Contraction: when something declines or gets smaller

Fluctuations: a shifting back and forth or up and down

Accommodation: something supplied to meet a need

Tracking the Economy: Reading

10. Analyze Interactions Read the third paragraph of “Tracking the Economy.” Using the terms macroeconomic and microeconomic, explain the economic relationship between a nation and the firms and households that are in that nation.

11. Draw Conclusions If you pay attention to the news, you probably hear a lot about national economic data such as unemployment or gross domestic product (GDP). If you have a steady job, why should you care how the rest of the country is doing?

Encouraging Economic Strength: Reading

12. Summarize How does the government encourage economic growth and stability? Use this graphic organizer to record the key ideas from this reading.

13. Identify Cause and Effect Read the section “Stability.” Suppose you own a business that sells hot dog buns and other bread products to restaurants. What would happen if the price of the wheat that is used to make buns went up?

Lesson 2.7 Public Goods and Externalities

Key Terms

  1. public good-
  2. public sector-
  3. private sector-
  4. infrastructure-
  5. free rider-
  6. market failure-
  7. externality-
  8. poverty threshold-
  9. welfare-

Academic Vocabulary

Impractical: not easily or efficiently achieved

Scenario: a sequence of events

Public Goods: Reading

10. Compare and Contrast What is the difference between private goods and public goods? Explain the difference using examples.

11. Draw Inferences Why would a private firm be able to charge a very high admission fee if it owned Yellowstone National Park?

Market Failures: Reading

12. Identify Cause and Effect What two main criteria must be present to avoid market failure?

Externalities: Reading

13. Draw Inferences When chemicals from a paper mill seep into a waterway and a town downstream pays to clean them up, why is that considered a market failure?

The Poverty Problem: Reading

14. Determine Central Ideas Why does the poverty threshold vary from year to year?

15. Identify Cause and Effect Why might income redistribution discourage productivity?