Unit+1

The Pickens Plan is an initiative put together by the hedge fund manager of BP capital Management T Boone Pickens. The plan puts forth a model to get America off its addiction to foreign oil and on a path towards sustainable energy sources produced in the US of A.

__Watch the following video and read through the following information and comment on the questions. __

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1632654798/bctid1653634930 (click on the link to watch the video)

 “America is addicted to foreign oil. It’s an addiction that threatens our economy, our environment and our national security. It touches every part of our daily lives and ties our hands as a nation and a people. In 1970, we imported 24% of our oil. Today it’s nearly 70% and growing. As imports grow and world prices rise, the amount of money we send to foreign nations every year is soaring. At current oil prices, we will send $700 billion dollars out of the country this year alone — that’s four times the annual cost of the Iraq war. Projected over the next 10 years the cost will be $10 trillion — it will be the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind. America uses a lot of oil. Every day 85 million barrels of oil are produced around the world. And 21 million of those are used here in the United States. That’s 25% of the world’s oil demand. Used by just 4% of the world’s population. The simple truth is that cheap and easy oil is gone.”


 * Discussion Questions **
 * 1) Is Pickens correct in saying that America’s addiction to foreign oil is a problem? How is this linked to sustainable development? Does the USA have a choice if if wants to continue to grow its GDP?
 * 2) If we assume it to be a problem, what solution would you recommend? Do you agree with Pickens?

Power point # 1 (Introduction to Economics)


Production Possibility Curves (PPC)



Rationing



Unit one test

The Test will consist of two parts

The first part of the test is definitions you should review the main concepts and definitions that we have covered in this first unit.

The second part of the test will ask you to answer 2 questions.

You should be able to discuss scarcity, allocation of resources, opportunity costs, and decisions that are made.

You should also be able to discuss different economies systems and what decisions they have to make and how the make the decisions.

__How to answer the two questions__

The key to answering the essay question is to make sure that you do the following: Use a good thesis statement to introduce the question and what key aspects you will focus on or answer. Define and terms, but make sure that they are defined from an economic prospective. Present the economic model/ argument Explain how the model /argument applies to the question