Sources

Lesson Options

Click to download. Download lesson outline (Microsoft Word)

Background for Teachers

Part 1: What is Poverty and Who are the Poor?

  • A global overview and relevant data
  • Absolute vs. relative poverty
  • Economic growth vs. redistribution

Part 2: What is Capitalism?

  • Institutional building blocks of commercial societies
  • Appendices, including dissenting viewpoints

Student Activities

  1. What Is Poverty? (classroom exercise)
  2. What Is Poverty and Who Are the Poor? (Webquest)
  3. Will the Real Capitalism Please Stand Up? (Research project)

Cox, Michael, and Richard Alm. By Our Own Bootstraps: Economic Opportunity and the Dynamics of Income Distribution – 1995 Annual Report, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. 27 Feb. 2004 <LINK>.

---. Time Well Spent: The Declining Real Cost of Living in America – 1997 Annual Report, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. 12 Jan. 2004 <http://www.dallasfed.org/fed/annual/#1997>.

Dollar, David. “Capitalism, Globalization and Poverty.” Consignment research paper written for The Foundation for Teaching Economics. Mar. 2003.

Glewwe, Paul, and Phong Nguyen. “Economic Mobility in Vietnam in the 1990s.”Unpublished paper written for World Bank. May 2002.

Goklany, Indur M. “Economic Growth and the State of Humanity.” PERC Policy Series,Issue #21. Ed. Jane S. Shaw. Bozeman, MT: PERC, Apr. 2001.

Grossman, Peter Z. Douglass North: Why Some Nations Can Sustain Growth. Center for International Private Enterprise. 27 Feb. 2004 <http://www.cipe.org/publications/fs/ert/e13/north-3.htm>.

Gwartney, James, and Robert Lawson. Economic Freedom of the World – 2003 Annual Report. Vancouver: The Fraser Institute, 2003. Freetheworld.com. 10 Feb. 2004 <http://freetheworld.com/2003/1EFW2003ch1.pdf >.

Human Development Reports. United Nations Human Development Program. 12 Feb. 2004 <http://hdr.undp.org/hd/ >.

Ransom, Richard. “Is Capitalism Good for the Poor? A Critical Comment.” Consignment paper written for The Foundation for Teaching Economics, Mar. 2003.

Rosenberg, Nathan, and L.E. Birdzell, Jr. How the West Grew Rich – The Economic Transformation of the Industrial World. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1986.

Short, Kathleen, and Martina Shea. “Beyond Poverty: Extended Measures of Well-Being.” Current Population Reports P70-50RV (Nov. 1995). U.S. Census Bureau. 10 Feb. 2004 <http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/beyond/>.

Stossel, John. Is America # One?: Student Study Guide. New York: In the Classroom Media, 2002.

Walton, Gary M., and Hugh Rockoff. History of the American Economy. 9th ed. Toronto: Thomson Learning, 2002.

The World Bank Group. Data on Poverty: The India Poverty Project: Poverty and Growth in India, 1951-94. PovertyNet: World Bank Development Education Program. 16 Feb. 2004.

---. Global Economic Prospects and the Developing Countries, 2001. Prospects for Development: The World Bank Group. 16 Feb. 2004 <http://www.worldbank.org/prospects/gep2001/>.

---. GNP per Capita. DEPweb 2001: World Bank Development Education Program. 16 Feb. 2004 <http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/modules/economic/gnp/map1.html>.

U.S. Census Bureau. Census Historical Poverty Tables. 16 Feb. 2004 <http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/censpov.html>.