The 51 Key Economics Concepts

Introduction

The Council for Economic Education (CEE) has compiled a list of the 51 key economics concepts common to all U.S. State requirements for high school classes in economics.

The table on this page shows how the 51 key concepts relate to the NCEE’s 20 voluntary National Standards for Economics.

Each key concept listed below links to free resources described at High School Economics Topics.

The concepts do not have to be pursued in order. If you are seeking an order for classroom use or self-study, we suggest the table at National Economics Standards, showing how each of the 51 Key Concepts fits into the National Standards.

The 51 Key Concepts

Fundamental Economics | Macroeconomics | Microeconomics | International Economics | Personal Finance Economics

Fundamental Economics

Key Concept	Related National Standards
1. Decision Making and Cost-Benefit Analysis	Standard 2, Standard 14, Standard 15, Standard 17
2. Division of Labor and Specialization	Standard 6
3. Economic Institutions	Standard 10
4. Economic Systems	Standard 3, Standard 15
5. Incentives	Standard 4, Standard 15,
6. Money	Standard 11
7. Opportunity Cost	Standard 1, Standard 15
8. Productive Resources	Standard 1, Standard 6, Standard 13, Standard 15
9. Productivity	Standard 15
10. Property Rights	Standard 10, Standard 16
11. Scarcity	Standard 1
12. Technology	Standard 15
13. Trade, Exchange and Interdependence	Standard 5, Standard 11

Macroeconomics

Key Concept	Related National Standards
14. Aggregate Demand	Standard 13
15. Aggregate Supply	Standard 13
16. Budget Deficits and Public Debt	Standard 16, Standard 20
17. Business Cycles	Standard 19
18. Economic Growth	Standard 15
19. Employment and Unemployment	Standard 6, Standard 10, Standard 18, Standard 19
20. Fiscal Policy	Standard 20
21. GDP	Standard 16, Standard 18
22. Inflation	Standard 7, Standard 8, Standard 19, Standard 20
23. Monetary Policy and the Federal Reserve	Standard 11, Standard 12, Standard 20
24. Real vs. Nominal	Standard 6, Standard 7, Standard 8, Standard 12, Standard 18

Microeconomics

Key Concept	Related National Standards
25. Competition and Market Structures	Standard 3, Standard 7, Standard 8, Standard 9, Standard 16,
26. Consumers	Standard 1
27. Demand	Standard 7, Standard 8, Standard 13
28. Elasticity of Demand	Standard 8 (N.B. closest fit)
29. Entrepreneurs	Standard 1, Standard 14, Standard 15
30. Government Failures/Public-Choice Analysis	Standard 17
31. Income Distribution	Standard 13, Standard 15, Standard 16
32. Market Failures	Standard 8, Standard 9, Standard 16
33. Markets and Prices	Standard 7, Standard 8, Standard 15
34. Price Ceilings and Floors	Standard 7, Standard 8
35. Producers	Standard 1
36. Profit	Standard 2, Standard 14
37. Roles of Government	Standard 14, Standard 16
38. Supply	Standard 3, Standard 7, Standard 8

International Economics

Key Concept	Related National Standards
39. Balance of Trade and Balance of Payments	Standard 5
40. Barriers to Trade	Standard 5, Standard 17
41. Benefits of Trade/Comparative Advantage	Standard 5, Standard 6
42. Economic Development	Standard 6 (N.B. closest fit)
43. Foreign Currency Markets/Exchange Rates	Standard 5, Standard 7, Standard 8

Personal Finance Economics

Key Concept	Related National Standards
44. Compound Interest	Standard 10, Standard 12, Standard 15
45. Credit	Standard 10
46. Financial Markets	Standard 15
47. Human Capital	Standard 1, Standard 15
48. Insurance	Standard 15
49. Money Management/Budgeting	Standard 11
50. Risk and Return	Standard 12, Standard 14, Standard 15
51. Saving and Investing	Standard 12, Standard 15