TEACHERS GUIDE TO

BY MICHAEL GOODWIN
ILLUSTRATED BY DAN E. BURR

INTRODUCTION
An engaging supplemental text that covers both economic theory and practice,
and U.S. as well as world history, Economix uses graphic storytelling to simplify
complex topics and visual formats to present data clearly. Moreover, its consistent
application of various lensesforeign policy, psychology, environmental science,
and military historyto help readers understand concepts, make it invaluable to the
social sciences generally. Economix both leverages primary sources and dynamically
relates contemporary issues to perennial debates; it also provides a wide range of
curricular applications at the secondary and early collegiate levels.
Prior to reading, consider having students set a purpose for themselves by reviewing the questions in the thought balloons on p.8 as models.
Ask them what they would like to learn as a result of reading Economix.

CONNECTING COMICS TO CURRICULUM

If using nonfiction comics in a classroom setting is new to your students, discuss the role of political cartoons both in history and todayand
the subjects traditional place in curricula. With this in mind, consider having students:
Explain the function of the shared stylistic elements of political cartoons and Economix (e.g., exaggeration and caricature, the key role of
labels and in-art signs, etc.).
Identify panels that might work as stand-alone political cartoons with little or no
modification (e.g., p.93, panel 2; p.99, panel 7; p.151, panel 3; p.272, panel 5).
Create their own political-style cartoons, either individually or in teams, to comment upon an economics issue in the book or one from current events.

COMMON CORE-STANDARDS ALIGNMENT

Grades 612 Literacy in History/Social Studies. Using grades 9 and 10 as a convenient midpoint for correlation (the content can clearly travel across grade levels), wed like to point out that Economix and this teaching
guide align particularly well with:

Key Ideas and Details (RH. 910.1., 10.2., 10.3.)

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the
information. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events
or ideas develop over the course of the text. Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused
later ones or simply preceded them.

Craft and Structure (RH. 910.4., 10.5., 10.6.)

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic
aspects of history/social science. Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis. Compare
the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize
in their respective accounts.

Knowledge and Ideas (RH. 910.7, 10.8. 10.9)

Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text. Assess the extent to which the reasoning and
evidence in a text support the authors claims. Compare and contrast treatments
of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.

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CENTRAL QUESTIONS AND PROMPTS

The following themes in Economix are well-suited to inquiry-based instruction. The individual questions can be used as the basis for small or whole group discussion, as writing
prompts, or be adapted into open-ended items for formal assessments.

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1. Trace the crucial idea that most consumers are also workers as it appears in different
contexts throughout the book (pp. 32, 122, 139, 193).. Why has it been easy for some people
to lose track of this fundamental truth?

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2. How has doing so led to problems in economic theory or in governmental policy?

The Limits of Theory

1. What does Goodwin suggest is the danger, and appeal, of substituting economic models for economic reality? (pp. 4041) For example,
why does he stress Ricardos importance but then note that we dont live in that model? (p. 61)
2. Why might economic policy debates remain stuck while economic thought itself advances? (pp. 200, 270)
3. Malthusian economics seem highly relevant when discussing countries where mass starvation occurs (p. 177). Which economist whose
work was published more than a century ago would be most applicable to todays world? Why?
4. In what ways does Economix show that that no single theory can adequately explain the complexity of economics in the real world?

The Role of the State

1. How does the experience of railroad-building in the U.S. (p. 75) hint at both the positives and negatives of a mixed economy? Similarly,
which problems did the New Deal solve (p. 115) and which new ones did it potentially create?
2. In the context of the Glass-Steagall Act (p. 117), Goodwin suggests that perfect regulation involves simple rules that private incentives
with the public interest. If this is true, what regulations in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries might have averted the
financial crisis of 2008? (e.g., p. 248)
3. In contemporary society, We take [lots of ] things for granted, but many of them started as socialist experiments (p. 66). Do the supporting examples for this assertion make you re-evaluate your beliefs about socialism and the governments role in our day-to-day lives? Why
or why not?
4. Liberals in the early twentieth century came to believe that We need public power to counterbalance private power! (p. 89) How true is
that today? What has changed?
5. How did the problem of conflating theory and practice (focusing on how an ideal economy should work, not how a real economy does
work) drive both Marxists and neoliberals to similar conclusions about the eventual role of the state? (p. 241)

Connecting Past to Present

1. Revisit the Business Week quote from 1956 (p. 130). Could it apply to American society today, or certain segments of it? Why or why not?
2. Compare and contrast protest movements of the recent past (Seattles WTO protestors,
pp. 239, 24546), the distant past (The Boston Tea Party, p. 32), and those at the time
of publication (Occupy Wall Street, pp. 27375; the Tea Party, p. 271). What are some
areas of commonality?
3. Are market bubbles essentially always the same? Be sure to provide historical evidence
for your answer.
4. Was President Obama wise to replicate the Keynesian spending policy of FDR (p. 268)?
Please draw upon your new understanding of deficit spending and other concepts, not
just your political views, in your response.
5. Blasts from the Past (pp. 276-277) explicitly draws parallels between history and
contemporary conditions. What other examples of this can you provide based upon your
reading of Economix?

It is an age in which all the old admonitions

appear to be outdated. Make do. Neither
a borrower or a lender be. Penny-wise,
pound-foolish. Waste not, want not.
A penny saved is a penny earned. A fool
and his money are soon parted. Just past
the midmark of the 20th century, it looks
as though all of our business forces are
bent on getting everyone to do just the
reverse. Borrow. Spend. Buy. Waste. Want.
Business Week (1956)

WORKSHEET

TIMELINE: KEY DATES IN ECONOMIC HISTORY

Name Date
DIRECTIONS: Use the facts and historical analyses in Economix to help you select the most important economic events and developments
of the past two centuries. Write your choices in the spaces provided, and be prepared to defend them if asked. You can connect any balloon
to any point on the timeline, freeing you up to concentrate your dates in just two or three time periods if youd like.

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

T H E WOR L D TODAY

(2001 O NWAR D)

Instead of the national oligopolies of the 19th century, were increasingly seeing
global ones in the 21st century. Diamonds are a good example; and car companies
are looking more and more like a single global entity than a bunch of competitors.

FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS . . .

lincoln

lamborghini
porsche

volvo

ford

BELOW-LEVEL READERS
For difficult passages, remind students to use the art as a kind of visual context
clue to meaning.

lexus

audi

Support students in comprehending the idioms and slang used throughout (Down
with The Man!, p. 31); hairiest, p. 37; barf, p. 53). Similarly, make sure that they recognize the differences in spelling and pronunciation in the many non-English words
that might be mistaken for English (laissez-faire).
As a response to Goodwins Im an American (p. 11), have your readers share
information and anecdotes about the economic conditions in their native country if it
is not the U.S.

mazda

subaru

vw
toyota

others

chrysler

isuzu
others

faw
(Chinese)

mercedes
bmw

tesla

mini

peugeot
citr en

smart

others

gm
daimler

others

others
others
suzuki

nissan

renault

fiat
Ownership
Shared tech, shared products, or joint venture

ECON OMIX

Finally, theres a parallel to

the world before WWI, when
Britain was trying to maintain
its political dominance as its
economic dominance was
slipping.

Today the U.S. is in the same situation.

BLASTS FROM THE PAST

There were parallels to the 1970s,
when an oil crisis had worsened
a food crisis . . .

By 2011, the world had a world of

problems, many of which should
seem pretty familiar.

Lets check out an economic power that seems, as of 2011, to be rising fast: India.

Explain that sometimes the art can provide visual metaphors (pp. panel 3, p. 17;
panel 1, p. 255; panel 2, p. 257).

277

Economix_InteriorToPrinter.indd 277

Coach them to make inferences based upon the art, pointing out that it often does
not directly illustrate the print text but rather offers an amplification or a humorous aside.
Encourage students to use the glossary (p. 292) as needed for content area vocabulary.

4/3/12 2:09 PM had escaped state controls . . .

and to the robber baron era, when big businesses

while today they

escape national
controls.
For that matter, the way the World
Trade Organization and other groups
nullify national laws for big businesses
convenience resembles how the
Supreme Court nullified
state laws on
page 87.

Preview the primary source excerpts that begin each section (and others as needed) since much of
the language there is apt to be at a considerably higher reading level than the rest of the text.

ADVANCED STUDENTS
Challenge students to explain or re-teach the math concepts and equations presented throughout,
including those not fully explicated by the text (e.g., the point about slope on p. 84).

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Economix_InteriorToPrinter.indd 276

4/3/12 2:09 PM

Invite them to apply critical thinking skills by playing time traveler. For example, what would Karl Marx have thought about the postwar
conditions outlined on pp. 14546, especially the quote by President Nixon?

CONCLUDING / EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

The Reproducible Student Page

Copy and distribute page 3 of this guide. Students can summarize,

and demonstrate, their learning by calling out the most important
dates/events in the book. You may want to ask them to explain
their choices verbally.

Connect to Civics

Have students compose an oral or written report in response to

this passage on p. 11: Were citizens of a democracy. Most of the
issues we vote on come down to economics. Its our responsibility
to understand what were voting about. Specifically, what have
they learned that will make an impact on the form or content of
their civic engagement, either locally or nationally?

Critical Thinking and Follow-Up

Goodwin invites readers to check out his sources (p. 295), which
are also available online (www.economixcomix.com), along with
his proposed solutions to various economic challenges. Have
students evaluate these, and his sources, critically. If something
seems wrong, its never been easier to check facts, find other
opinions, and think things through yourself. (p. 11)

Economix: How and Why Our Economy Works (and Doesnt Work) in Words and Pictures copyright 2012 Michael Goodwin. Illustrated by Dan E. Burr. Published by Abrams ComicArts.
Teachers Guide conceived and by Peter Gutirrez, a former middle school social studies teacher and current NCTE spokesperson on comics and graphic novels.
(NCTE), and is a frequent contributor to School Library Journal. He can be reached at [email protected]