Trade-Offs — Season 1, Episode 13: How Could That Happen?
Family, Kids • 30 min • 1 season, 15 episodes
Episode synopsis
When a young musician becomes a sudden sensation, rising demand for his records sets off surprising ripple effects across the economy. From popcorn to raincoats, motorcycles to football helmets, the episode shows how interconnected markets respond to changes in supply, demand, and production costs. A playful look at the “invisible hand” in action.
About Trade-Offs
Trade-offs was an AIT program designed to improve economics instruction in the United States and Canadian schools. The series of fifteen lessons, for children from 9-13, helped students think their way through economic problems and increased their understanding of economics. On a broader scale, it helped them become more effective decision makers and ultimately more responsible citizens. Each lesson consists of a 20-minute color television/film program plus teacher's guide material to facilitate classroom follow-up. Each program begins with a short segment that identifies key points that students and teachers should watch for. This is followed by the dramatization of a fundamental economic problem relevant to the daily life of the student. Special visuals emphasize the economic principles and reasoning processes involved. The last portion of the program introduces, but does not resolve, another problem, and ends by posing a question to the viewers.