Economics

There are two major types of credit—using credit cards and borrowing directly from a financial institution. Although they differ in their services, they all charge interest on the funds they lend. In this section, you’ll learn about financial institutions, charge accounts, and credit cards—and why you should be aware of the high interest rates they sometimes charge.

As with every decision in life, when you decide to buy a car, you are going to make a trade-off that involves an opportunity cost. You will have to decide what type of vehicle to buy, whether to buy new or used, and whether gas efficiency or engine size is more important to you, for example. In this section, you will learn about some of the important things to consider when shopping for a car.

To protect consumers, the federal and state governments regulate the credit industry. Some states have set a maximum on the interest rates charged for certain types of credit. The federal government has also passed laws designed to increase the flow of credit information to consumers.

In this section, you’ll learn about these laws and how they protect consumers from unfair credit practices.

How do you apply for credit? What factors determine whether or not you will be approved for credit? Perhaps more importantly, how can you dig yourself out of debt if your payments are more than you can handle? In this section, you’ll learn what makes a person eligible for credit. You’ll also learn ways to handle your debts before they get out of control.

Americans consume a great variety of foods. They can choose from thousands of different food products and buy them at thousands of stores. Hundreds of brands offer numerous choices. With pizza alone, Americans can choose fresh-baked or frozen, deep dish or thin crust, meat lovers’ or vegetarian, or even pizza in a cone. In all, American consumers spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on food. In this section, you’ll learn how to get the most from your food dollars.