Economic Resources by Topic

Monetary Policy - The Economic Lowdown Video Series

These videos explain how the Fed uses monetary policy to reach those goals.

• Monetary Policy, part 1: The Fed and the Dual Mandate - This segment explains how the Fed adjusts the target range for the federal funds rate to set off a chain of events in the economy.

• Monetary Policy, part 2: Two Important Interest Rates in Monetary Policy Implementation - This segment explains how the Fed uses two important interest rates—the federal funds rate and the interest on reserve balances rate—to implement monetary policy. 

• Monetary Policy, part 3: Reservation Rate and Arbitrage - This segment explains that the interest on reserve balances rate acts as a reservation rate for banks, and explains how arbitrage ensures that it is an effective tool for steering the federal funds rate into the FOMC’s target.

The Fed’s New Monetary Policy Tools

Learn all about the Fed’s new tools and the way it uses them to move the economy toward maximum employment and price stability. This module is part of the EconLowDown series.

Fiscal Policy

Fiscal Policy Online Modules for Teachers and Students

Economic concepts such as inflation, unemployment, recession, and economic growth affect people in real ways. In two interactive modules from the St. Louis Fed, students will learn about the basics of fiscal policy, the avenue by which Congress and the president attempt to influence the economy, including the policy tools Congress and the president use.

Teaching Fiscal Policy in the Covid Era

The series from the Council on Economic Education explores how events like the pandemic can put extraordinary pressure on the nation’s economy and the financial well-being of citizens while teaching students about the tools governments can use to respond to such challenges.

What is Fiscal Policy? Interactive Teaching Tools

Browse this comprehensive list and explanation of interactive tools that are designed to help students make sense of complex fiscal policies. Find interactive tools from:

• The Economic Policy Institute: Tax and Spending Explorer
• Brookings Institute: The Fiscal Ship
• The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) and the Bipartisan Policy Center: Debt Fixer and Balancing Act
• and more...

National Debt

Making Sense of the Federal Budget, Debt and Deficits

This five lesson unit provided by the Foundation for Teaching Economics includes the following topics:

• National debt and its historic origins
• Government spending and federal budget allocations
• Sustainability of the federal debt
• Federal, state and local government budgeting
• Spending and funding
• Government financial accounting and reports
• How rational public choices can lead to budget deficits

Lessons include enduring understandings, objections, presentations, reading assignments and student activities (group or individual)