Economics is a very important unit course in GED and that is why it is included among the various units in GED social studies. This unit deals with many topical issues chief among them being the US economy, economic systems, foreign trade, and the free enterprise system. It provides fundamental economic principles which help the learner to easily comprehend economic terms and concepts used on the global scale. It introduces the student to the basics of economics which include terms such as needs and wants. It makes a distinction of what consists of the things that people really need to survive and those that people want to make their lives comfortable in the backdrop of limited resources.
The topic also delves into the factors of production which include land, labor and capital. These terms are clearly defined to enable the learner to have a good grasp of the fundamentals. The unit tries to explain how people make choices in view of limited resources. This has to do with the unlimited wants that individuals have compared to the resources that are available to satisfy those wants. Here, the economic term of scarcity is expounded upon. It does not only deal with individual choices but also those made by nations. These are determined by three basic considerations which include the materials to be produced, how they will be produced and for whom.
Another very important area that is covered in economics is topic on modern economic systems. These are the systems that are used in the modern economic world and include capitalism, socialism and communism. Each of these systems have special plans which caters for the division of basic economic decisions between the government and the private sector. A distinction is therefore made between the various economic systems. In capitalism, for example, major economic decisions are made by the private sector while the opposite is true for communism. However, in socialism, both the government and the private sector make economic decisions but the government has the upper hand.
The free enterprise trade, which uses the free market system that is practiced in the US, is also covered. This is where consumers shop for the best goods at the lowest price. On the other hand, producers seek to produce the best quality goods in the most efficient ways. This then leads to a competitive situation which is of benefit to the consumer. It also touches on the US economy, the role of consumers and trade, global markets and foreign trade among others.
