Unit Description:
This lively unit teaches the sometimes-difficult economic concept of comparative advantage, and can be a springboard for the study of current issues in international trade. In The Great Awakening, students negotiate a trade agreement between two nations that realize they can increase total economic output through specialization and trade. When political and social forces - labor and environmentalists - exert pressures that counteract trade, students must grapple with the tradeoffs that exist between economic and social forces. As a result, students discover that the (opportunity) costs associated with production are often social and tied to the question: For whom are goods produced?

Time Required:
5 days