In Economics and Personal Finance, instructional time will emphasize eight areas: (1) developing fundamental concepts of economics, such as, analyzing the trade-offs that individuals, businesses, and society must make because of scarcity; (2) using microeconomic concepts to describe how individual consumers, businesses, and government make decisions in a market economy and understand the benefits of using the market to distribute goods; (3) using macroeconomic concepts to understand the key indicators that measure the economy and how fiscal and monetary policy can be used to influence the economy and reduce the swings of the business cycle; (4) exploring international trade, analyzing the gains countries could receive through trade and understanding the stages of economic development; (5) exploring personal financial decisions, including understanding cognitive biases’ impact on decision-making and developing personal or family budgets to weigh the costs and benefits of purchasing goods and services; (6) understanding how wages and salaries are earned, the types of taxes owed, evaluating post-secondary paths, career options, and planning for future through investment accounts and retirement plans; (7) analyzing the benefits of saving now by earning interest, comparing various savings accounts and services offered by financial institutions, determining the advantages and disadvantages of credit accounts and loans, and comparing investment choices by analyzing rates of return, risk, diversification, and associated fees; and (8) recognizing and mitigating risks that can result in lost income, health, or identity through insurance and other risk management strategies.