Course: The Individual and The Economy
Course Code: CIE3M1
Learning Goals
By the end of this course, I will learn to:
Strand: ECONOMIC DECISION MAKING
Scarcity and Choice
1. explain, using specific examples, the economic problem of scarcity and the choices and
trade-offs that individuals and societies must make;
2. explain the three basic types of economic choices (i.e., what, how, and for whom to
produce);
3. describe the costs of an economic choice, using the model of the production possibility
boundary and the concepts of explicit costs (i.e., money) and implicit costs (i.e., nonmonetary costs and opportunity cost);
4. distinguish between economic resources (i.e., labour, land, and capital) and economic
outputs (i.e., goods and services).
Personal Financial Planning
1. identify the financial planning principles that people follow when they budget, invest, and
save (e.g., start saving early, take advantage of compound interest, recognize the value of
diversification);
2. identify the factors that affect the value of different types of financial assets (e.g., stocks,
bonds, mutual funds, real estate) and the benefits and risks associated with each;
3. evaluate, using financial criteria (e.g., yield, rate of return, liquidity, risk), the
appropriateness of different types of financial assets at different stages of life;
4. describe how saving benefits the individual and the economy;
5. describe different forms of savings income (e.g., interest, dividends, capital gains, rent) and
how they benefit the individual and the economy.
Employment Trends
1. describe how changes in the labour force and in the participation rate affect rates of
employment;
2. explain the factors that cause the patterns of labour supply and demand to change (e.g.,
demographic trends, advances in technology);
3. analyse the causes of specific types of unemployment (e.g., frictional, seasonal, structural,
cyclical) and their impact on career choices.
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CIE3M1 Learning Goals
Strand: ECONOMIC STAKEHOLDERS
Consumers
1. distinguish among wants, needs, and consumer demand (i.e., the willingness and ability to
pay for goods and services);
2. identify the factors that influence consumer demand (e.g., expectations, the availability of
substitutes, taste, income);
3. evaluate the sources and quality of information available to consumers about the products
they wish to purchase;
4. analyse choices and determine the best method of payment (e.g., cash, credit, loan, rent,
lease) for major consumer purchases (e.g., cars, accommodation).
Producers
1. explain the connection between the income and the productivity of different types of
producers”, or contributors to the economy (e.g., workers, investors, entrepreneurs);
2. describe the traits, skills, and economic contributions that distinguish entrepreneurs from
others such as inventors, employees, and managers;
3. explain how and why some individuals contribute to the production of goods and services
without financial remuneration (e.g., as volunteers, by bartering, as homemakers).
Socio-economic Groups
1. identify socio-economic groups using numerical data (e.g., quintiles, various poverty lines)
and income determinants (e.g., place of residence, education, birth);
2. assess how government policies (e.g., with respect to user fees, taxation, rent controls,
resource development) affect various socio-economic groups;
3. analyse how various socio-economic groups are affected by changes in prices, in incomes,
and in their own needs at different life stages.
Economic Citizens
1. describe the economic rights guaranteed to Canadian citizens by law (e.g., eligibility for
welfare-state benefits, mobility rights, equality of economic opportunity);
2. describe the economic responsibilities of Canadian citizens (e.g., respect for laws against
pollution, vandalism, etc.; awareness of the economic implications of public issues);
3. analyse a current issue (e.g., pollution), identifying how the economic rights of individuals
must be balanced by economic responsibility and public accountability.
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CIE3M1 Learning Goals
Strand: SELF-INTEREST AND INTERDEPENDENCE
Self-Interest and Interdependence
1. explain why self-interest leads to the specialization of labour and the need to rely on others
(i.e., interdependence);
2. describe the criteria that consumers and producers each use to determine which of several
choices is in their own best interest;
3. explain how the interdependence of consumers and producers in a market determines an
equilibrium price that maximizes the self-interest of all stakeholders in that market;
4. describe the nature of economic interdependence in consumer markets (e.g., substitution
effect) and in labour markets (e.g., derived and interdependent demand).
Conflicting Self-Interests
1. describe examples of how the self-interest of different stakeholder groups may conflict (e.g.,
consumers and producers, workers and management/shareholders);
2. describe ways in which government intervenes in the economy to mediate the conflicting
self-interests of stakeholders, and assess the effectiveness of such interventions (e.g.,
minimum wage laws, competition policy, health and safety regulations, environmental
protection regulations).
International Economic Interdependence
1. identify the value and significance of trade to Canada’s economy;
2. describe how events in the United States and other parts of the world affect Canada’s
economy and the well-being of different groups of Canadian stakeholders (e.g., the Asian
market crises in 1997 and 1998, the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001,
fluctuations in the U.S. economy);
3. describe the nature of Canada’s foreign trade by interpreting trade data (e.g., current and
capital accounts);
4. assess the benefits and disadvantages to trading partners of international specialization and
trade arising from comparative advantage (e.g., the comparative advantage between Canada
and Mexico in the production of wheat and radios).
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CIE3M1 Learning Goals
Strand: ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS
Canada’s Economic System
1. describe the distinguishing characteristics of the private, public, and non-profit (e.g.,
volunteer) sectors of the Canadian economy;
2. describe the uses of money (e.g., as a medium of exchange, measure of value) in a mixed
economy;
3. determine the contributions made by the private, public, non-profit, and international (i.e.,
export and import) sectors of the economy;
4. compare Canada’s mixed economy with the economies of other countries in terms of the
ownership of goods, services, and resources (i.e., public and private) and methods of
economic decision making (i.e., market, central authority, or corporatism).
The Private Sector
1. describe how the prices established in input markets (i.e., of labour, land, and capital) and
in consumer markets (i.e., of final goods and services) determine what, how, and for whom
goods and services are produced;
2. explain the importance of profit in the private sector and the factors that determine the
profitability of a business (e.g., demand, production costs, amount of competition);
3. explain how producers determine the most efficient way to use resources and how much to
produce;
4. compare the characteristics of the different structures of business organizations (i.e., sole
proprietorship, partnership, corporation, cooperative);
5. compare the characteristics of firms and of competition in perfectly and imperfectly
competitive markets (e.g., monopoly and oligopoly).
The Public Sector
1. identify the economic responsibilities of each level of government in Canada;
2. describe specific taxes paid by different stakeholders (e.g., income tax, sales tax, property
tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, excise tax) and classify them by type (e.g., progressive,
regressive, and proportional; direct and indirect);
3. analyse government tax data and spending data to identify trends.
Organized Labour
1.
2.
3.
4.
describe various forms of organized labour (e.g., unions, professional associations,
workers’ cooperatives) and the needs they satisfy;
explain how organized labour can affect supply in labour markets;
compare the incomes, benefits, and working conditions of organized and unorganized
workers;
5. evaluate the effectiveness of the collective bargaining process and other ways of resolving
labour-management issues in terms of their benefits and costs to different groups of
stakeholders.
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CIE3M1 Learning Goals
Strand: METHODS OF ECONOMIC INQUIRY AND COMMUNICATION
Research
1. identify different types of economic information (e.g., statistics, forecasts, analysis, opinion)
from a variety of sources (e.g., government, academic institutions, businesses, interest
groups, the media, the Internet);
2. evaluate the usefulness of economic information by considering the reliability of its source
(e.g., authority, expertise, impartiality) and the quality of its content (e.g., use of logical
arguments supported by evidence, absence of bias, avoidance of unsubstantiated
assumptions);
3. analyse different forms of economic information (e.g., reports, graphs, charts, tables) to
determine their relevance, to accurately identify their main ideas and significant details,
and to distinguish between fact and opinion;
4. identify various career opportunities that require an understanding of economics (e.g.,
manager of a small business, business administrator, government policy analyst,
stockbroker) and relate them to their own interests, abilities, and expectations.
Analysis and Interpretation
1. interpret current financial information from various sources (e.g., information from banks
or stock markets that incorporates statistics and forecasts);
2. use economic concepts (e.g., supply and demand) to analyse and describe an economic
reality or choice;
3. use economic models (e.g., competitive market) to analyse economic relationships and to
forecast outcomes (e.g., how changes in supply and demand will affect price and output);
4. use methods of economic inquiry (e.g., cost-benefit analysis) to evaluate an economic choice
from the perspective of the affected stakeholders;
5. describe the construction and use of a price index (e.g., Consumer Price Index [CPI], gross
domestic product [GDP], price deflator, Toronto Stock Exchange [TSX] 300);
6. interpret price and income data from different time periods to determine trends in average
price level, real incomes, and purchasing power;
7. describe economic and social indicators that contribute to our understanding of the
economic well-being of Canadian and world citizens (e.g., real gross domestic product, real
gross domestic product per capita, United Nations human development index);
8. analyse an example of a current change in a particular market, explaining the causes of the
change, identifying the stakeholders involved, and forecasting how the stakeholders will be
affected;
9. explain how an understanding of markets is in the interest of consumers, producers, and
other stakeholders.
Communication
1. communicate the results of inquiries, using a variety of styles and forms (e.g., reports,
essays, discussions, presentations), as well as visual supports (e.g., charts, graphs, computer
presentations);
2. use an accepted form of academic documentation (e.g., footnotes, endnotes, or author-date
citations; bibliographies or reference lists) to document all information sources, including
electronic sources;
3. use appropriate terminology to communicate economic concepts;
4. produce a report, based on analysis of the various measures of economic well-being,
comparing the performance of the Canadian economy with that of other developed
countries.
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CIE3M1 Learning Goals