# Economics Across the Scottish Curriculum > [!info] Where economic questions come up across the Scottish curriculum, subject by subject. Written with teachers in mind; the resources are free for anyone to use. > Whether you **teach economics as a subject** or want to **bring it into another subject**, the material gathered here serves both. Each subject has its own page: where the economic questions sit in that course, three activities built around free resources, and support material — SES resources and good free external material. **Go straight to a subject:** [[Economics]] · [[Geography & Economics|Geography]] · [[History & Economics|History]] · [[Modern Studies & Economics|Modern Studies]] · [[Business Management & Economics|Business Management]] · [[Applications of Maths & Economics|Applications of Mathematics]] · [[Politics & Economics|Politics]] · [[Psychology & Economics|Psychology]] · [[Sociology & Economics|Sociology]] ## Why economics shows up At heart, economics is about **choices** — how people, communities, businesses and governments decide what to do when they **can't have everything**, and what happens as a result. That makes it as much a way of thinking as a body of content — one that's useful wherever choices and consequences are in play. ## Questions other courses already raise Questions like these come up in more than one Scottish course: - Why do some countries have so much more than others — and can that ever change? - Who gained from the transatlantic slave trade, and who bore the cost? - Why is poverty persistent in some places, and what would change it? - Why did prices rise so fast, and did it hit everyone equally? - Why don't people always choose what's best for them? ## The same questions, asked differently **Real questions spill across subject boundaries**, and each subject lends the others tools and evidence. Economics is one of those tools: pupils working through National 5 and Higher are often already handling economic questions — about cost, trade-offs, who gains and who pays — under other headings, and with other methods. The traffic runs both ways: economics draws heavily on these subjects, and economic data and arguments are among the evidence they can use. ![[cross-curricular.svg]] > [!tip] For pupils who get hooked > A pupil who enjoys the trade-and-development side of **Geography**, the inequality questions in **Modern Studies** or **Sociology**, the **History** of industrialisation, behaviour in **Psychology**, or the financial maths in **Applications of Mathematics** is already asking economics questions. > → Point them to [[5 - What's Next — a guide for pupils|What's Next?]] for how to take it further — at school, at university and beyond. ### Subject by subject Each subject has its own page — where the economic questions sit in that course, three activities, and **support material** (SES resources plus good free external material). Follow a link below. We'll keep adding to these; gaps are marked — and if you have a resource or an activity that works, [[6 - Get In Touch|tell us]]. | Subject | Content | | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **[[Economics\|Economics]]** | Core teaching resources and SES materials for delivering Economics directly | | **[[Geography & Economics\|Geography]]** | *Trade and globalisation* — trade patterns, causes of inequalities in trade, fair trade; social/economic development indicators; the economics of tourism | | **[[History & Economics\|History]]** | The transatlantic slave trade; the Industrial Revolution; economic causes of the Treaty of Union; migration & empire; the creation of the Welfare State | | **[[Modern Studies & Economics\|Modern Studies]]** | *Social Inequality* option — causes (employment, income, attainment), consequences, and government/private-sector responses | | **[[Business Management & Economics\|Business Management]]** | Role of business in society — factors of production, sectors of industry and of the economy; price-setting; external economic factors | | **[[Applications of Maths & Economics\|Applications of Mathematics]]** | *Financial skills* — interest, income/tax/deductions, best-deal comparison, currency; *Statistics* — interpreting data and risk | | **[[Politics & Economics\|Politics]]** | Political ideologies and their competing answers on the market, the state and the distribution of wealth | | **[[Psychology & Economics\|Psychology]]** | Behaviour, evidence — conformity and social influence (Asch), altruism and the bystander effect; the bridge to behavioural economics | | **[[Sociology & Economics\|Sociology]]** | Inequality by class, gender and ethnicity; socialisation; differential achievement in education, supported by research evidence | > [!note] Teaching Economics itself? > Many Scottish schools offer **Economics** as a subject. The **[[Economics]]** page gathers core teaching resources and SES materials for the specialist classroom. > [!success] Not offered at your school? > You **don't need to have studied economics** to take it at university — most economics students arrive having never sat an economics class (a good grounding in **Maths** is often what matters). And if it isn't offered where you are, you can explore it anyway: see **[[5 - What's Next — a guide for pupils|What's Next?]]** for how to get started. --- → Next: [[2 - Resources]]