The lessons in The Economic Demise of the Soviet Union teach upper middle-school and high school students how to use economic reasoning to identify and explain the factors that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Additionally, and in keeping with the FTE's focus on teaching economic reasoning, the curriculum package was designed to provide teachers a model for the incorporation of economic education in the contexts of a history-focused curricula.
The history of the Soviet Union from 1917 until the fall is the chronological backdrop for development of an economic reasoning toolkit. Each lesson teaches a single economic concept, offering examples and illustrations from the seemingly mindless chaos of everyday economic life in the USSR. From the powerful planning ministries to the hapless householders standing hours in line to get their weekly necessities, every level of Soviet society faced increasing frustration in the waning years of the 20th century. The Economic Demise of the Soviet Union Online for Teachers details the perverse incentive system at the heart of the empire's economic failure.
Lesson Topics include:
- Opportunity Cost: The Soviet Choice for Growth
- Missing Markets and Missing Prices: The Task of the Planning Ministry
- Incentives Matter: The Firm in the Soviet Economy
- Property Rights: Soviet Farms
- Transaction Costs: Life in a Soviet Household
- Applying the Lessons of the Soviet Union
Course Specifics:
- Cost: NO Tuition. ($150 deposit - refundable upon completion of the course.)
- Course Length: 8 weeks
- Prerequisites: Completion of EOFT-1 (or other online course, with permission of FTE's online program administrator)
- Course Materials: lecture and lesson plans provided - including background information, chronologies of events, economic data, simulations, and testing instruments
- Registration: 30 students per section, 1st-come-1st-served, based on receipt of deposit
- Optional graduate credit: 2 sem. hrs. graduate credit - University of Colorado, Colorado Springs - $100
The FTE thanks the Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics Foundation for funding support in the creation of The Economic Demise of the Soviet Union and The Economic Demise of the Soviet Union Online for Teachers.