Good Explanations of Inflation, Recession, and Bubbles

Turn on any financial news network like CNBC these days and you're likely to hear some discussion about inflation and concerns about recession. Even if your students aren't listening to those stories, they might be hearing about them from their parents or perhaps in your classroom as part of a current events discussion. Financial news was always a topic in my classroom when I taught a current events course. 

If you find yourself talking about inflation, recession, and related topics in your classroom, here are some videos that could help your students gain a better understanding of those topics. 

Inflation Explained in One Minute provides a very basic explanation of the concept of inflation. It could be fine as a conversation starter or introduction to a lesson. However, if viewed on its own without additional information it might give students the impression that inflation is solely caused by changes in money supply. 

How Inflation Works is an excellent twelve minute video lesson produced by CNBC International. The video does a great job of explaining demand-pull inflation and cost-push inflation. Going beyond the the basics the video also provides an excellent comparison of the economic theories of Milton and Keynes. Students will also learn how consumer price index is calculated and how it is indicative of inflation. Finally, the video concludes with historical examples of inflation around the world and the causes of those hyperinflationary episodes. I should note that the video will lend itself to introducing other concepts to your students including the importance of the federal reserve's interest rate.



If you or your students would prefer an animated lesson about inflation, The School of Life offers this solid explanation of cost-push and demand-pull inflation.



Related TED-Ed Lessons
TED-Ed has four lessons that could fit in well with a larger discussion and lessons related to inflation.

Why Can't Governments Print an Unlimited Amount of Money? explains the concept of quantitative easing in the context of the last two years.

What Give a Dollar Bill Its Value? explains the role of the Federal Reserve in trying to control inflation and deflation.

What Causes an Economic Recession? uses the context of the Bronze Age to introduce the factors that can lead to economic recessions today. Those include inflation, borrowing habits, saving habits, spending habits, and government decisions.

What Causes Economic Bubbles? uses the context of the tulip industry of the 1600's to explain what causes an economic bubble and what happens when it bursts.

Inflation Calculators
Inflation calculators are useful in helping students see the effects of inflation over time. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics offers a free inflation calculator that lets you go back as far as 1913 to view changes in prices and buying power over time. It's how I figured out that the first car I ever bought back in the fall of 1996 for $1500 would cost almost $2700 today (and still be a hunk of junk).

Finally, on the topic of money, next week I'm hosting a Practical Ed Tech webinar about how to create and sell your own digital products. Join me!

Short Lessons on the Value of Money

Last week TED-Ed published a new video lesson titled Why Can't Governments Print an Unlimited Amount of Money? The purpose of the video is to explain how governments, particularly the United States federal government, were able to spend trillions of dollars on COVID-19 economic relief programs in the last year. The video explains the role of central banks in controlling the money supply and the concepts of inflation and quantitative easing. There is also an explanation of government bonds, why they're sold, and who buys them. Overall, it's a solid video for middle school or high school students. 

 


Why Can't Governments Print and Unlimited Amount of Money? is the latest of many videos about money and economics that TED-Ed has published over the years. A couple that dovetail with the latest video include What Gives a Dollar Bill Its Value?, What Causes Economic Bubbles?, and What Causes an Economic Recession?



Applications for Education
Before showing either Why Can't Governments Print an Unlimited Amount of Money? or What Gives a Dollar Bill Its Value? I'd ask students to think about some products they purchase and what contributes to the price and or price increases of those products.

All of the videos are suitable as introductions to larger lessons. To that end, I may have students watch the videos in EDpuzzle where they can answer some questions about the videos as an assignment.

Here's an overview of how to create an assignment in EDpuzzle.

Inflation Calculator - Show Students Changes in the Value of Money

When I was a kid a 3 Musketeers bar cost 30 cents at my favorite shop, North End Pharmacy. The last time that I saw one in a gas station it cost $1.39. That's ridiculous! What happened? Inflation, happened.

I like to use that candy bar example whenever I begin to explain inflation to kids. t's a product they're familiar with and usually have a good sense of its current value. If you want to come up with other examples or have students explore the impact of inflation on their own, take a look at the new Inflation Calculator created by Involve.me.

The Inflation Calculator lets you enter a dollar amount then select two years to see the change in the value of the original dollar amount over time. Watch this short video to see how it works.


H/T to Product Hunt. 

Videos - What Is Money? What Is Inflation?

As I've mentioned many times over the years, economics is one of my favorite subjects to teach. Some of my first lessons when introducing economics to students deal with the questions of "what is money? and "what determines its value?" The following short videos provide a nice introduction to the questions of "what is money?" and "what is inflation?" These videos won't replace my lessons, but they will be good supplementary material to share with students.


The following explanation of inflation is direct and to the point, but it does include a promotion for an investment website at the end.