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Communicating Course Objectives Financial literacy is the ability to understand how money works in the world . There are many aspects to financial literacy, including understanding personal finance and money management, like how to get a car loan or balance a checking account. However, being 21st century financially literate increasingly requires a level of knowledge about global commerce, business, and innovation. The 21st Century Student’s Guide to Financial Literacy is decidedly global, focusing on “big picture” financial literacy topics. In this course you will learn about the evolution of commerce and money, the rise of capitalism, entrepreneurship, and innovation. In the next 17 chapters you will journey through barter and trade, currency, venture capital, startups, intellectual property, securities and stock markets, and global free trade agreements. Along the way, you’ll take side trips to such key institutions of global commerce as the SEC, USPTO, Federal Reserve Bank, IMF, World Bank, World Trade Organization, Eurozone, G7, G20, and World Economic Forum. Here’s our promise: When you finish this course you will have a working vocabulary of over 200 financial terms and have a basic knowledge of many of the key systems and institutions of global commerce. No, we can’t cover everything – after all it’s a big world, but we will cover topics which build context for much of what you’ll learn in high school and college, help prepare you for a career, and provide insight into the meaning and significance of many global events. Communicating Lesson Objectives By the conclusion of this lesson, you will recognize that the pursuit of wealth and prosperity is expressed as commerce, and that business and commerce are not the same. In this 21st century world, you are surrounded by commercial activity 24/7. You will be able to identify commerce as local, domestic, or global. You will be able to list components of global commerce, explain the vital role of the consumer in commerce, and summarize three important economic indicators. PRODUCT PREVIEW Presentation of Content SLIDE 1H
What is Commerce?
com•merce [kom-ers] noun: activities that relate to the buying and selling of goods and services.
Pretty simple, huh? But think about that for a minute. Doesn’t almost everyone, everywhere in the world, every day , engage in some activity relating to the buying and selling of goods or services? In every corner of the world, people buy and consume food and other goods, drive a car or take another mode of transportation to a job. People everywhere make, sell, or buy products and services, or work for a company that makes, sells, or buys products and services. Products are manufactured and shipped all over the globe. Commerce is the expression of the pursuit of wealth, and people everywhere are engaged in it. Don’t be fooled by
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THE 21st CENTURY STUDENT’S GUIDE TO FINANCIAL LITERACY
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