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Regenerative Economics x AP Macroeconomics (USA) Mapping
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This spreadsheet indicates possible footholds in the AP Macroeconomics syllabus for Regenerative Economics content.
Note: This is a living document. More Regenerative Economics content will be added as we develop the work in 2025
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Unit 1: Basic economic concepts
8-10 class periods
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AP Macroeconomics SyllabusRegenerative Economics Textbook SectionsAdditional comments
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1.1 Scarcity
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MOD-1
The production possibilities curve (PPC) model is used to demonstrate the full employment level of output and to illustrate changes in full employment.

MOD-1.A
Define scarcity and economic resources.

MOD-1.A.1
Individuals and societies are forced to make choices because most resources are scarce.
1.1.1 The economy and you

1.1.2 The embedded economy

1.3.1 Human nature

1.3.3 Human needs

All of Subtopic 1.2 Ecology and the economy

1.2.1 Human-nature relationship

1.2.2 Energy basics

1.2.3 The impact of the fossil fuel energy pulse

1.2.4 Matter in the economy

1.2.5 Ecosystems: energy, interactions, stability

1.2.6 Biogeochemical flows

1.2.7 Planetary boundaries		The concept of scarcity is one that can and should be challenged at the start of the AP Macroeconomics course

Scarcity assumes that resources are limited, which is true. Some are stock limited (as in fossil fuels) and others are flow limited (hydro, solar, wind, food harvests, etc). But scarcity also assumes that human needs and wants are unlimited, which is not true. Human needs are quantifiable and limited. Human wants are socially shaped. So the assumption of scarcity should not be treated as fact.

The scarcity assumption has a number of damaging consequences. It complements another damaging assumption, that human beings aim to maximise personal utility (and that this is rational behaviour). It assumes that we need to compete to get 'our share'. It undermines cooperation and reciprocity. The narrative also shifts the power dynamic between consumers and producers. If everything is scarce and people have to compete to get what they need and want, it gives firms more pricing power.

Later in the course, you could challenge students to consider how different the economics course might look if it started with the concept of sufficiency, rather than scarcity.

Students need to have a better understanding of how the economy is embedded in social and ecological systems. It's not enough to just say that we use land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship as factors of production. We are completely dependent on energy and matter from Earth's systems, and are depleting these and disturbing planetary processes at such an alarming rate that we threaten our own existence. These sections provide students some understanding of basic ecology to get this point across.

You could also provide more context about the factors of production by looking more closely at the energy and matter resources needed for production. Subtopic 1.2 has sections that explain basic ecology to help students understand how dependent we are on ecosystems, and the negative impact of our economies on those ecosystems.
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1.2 Opportunity cost and the production possibiity curve (PPC)
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MOD-1
The production possibilities curve (PPC) model is used to demonstrate the full employment level of output and to illustrate changes in full employment.

MOD-1.B
a. Define (using graphs as appropriate) the PPC and related terms.
b. Explain (using graphs as appropriate) how the PPC illustrates opportunity costs, tradeoffs, inefficiency, efficiency, and economic growth or contraction under various conditions.
c. Calculate (using data from PPCs or tables as appropriate) opportunity cost.

MOD-1.B.1
The PPC is a model used to show the tradeoffs associated with allocating resources.

MOD-1.B.2
The PPC can be used to illustrate the concepts of scarcity, opportunity cost, efficiency, underutilized resources, and economic growth or contraction.

MOD-1.B.3
The shape of the PPC depends on whether opportunity costs are constant, increasing, or decreasing.

MOD-1.B.4
The PPC can shift because of changes in factors of production as well as changes in productivity/technology.

MOD-1.B.5
Economic growth results in an outward shift of the PPC.

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1.3 Comparative advantage and gains from trade
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MKT-1
Production and consumption increase by engaging in trade.		Topic 7: International Exchanges
Coming late 2025
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MKT-1.A
a. Define absolute advantage and comparative advantage.
b. Determine (using data from PPCs or tables as appropriate) absolute and comparative advantage.

MKT-1.A.1
Absolute advantage describes a situation in which an individual, business, or country can produce more of a good or service than any other producer with the same quantity of resources.

MKT-1.A.2
Comparative advantage describes a situation in which an individual, business, or country can produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than another producer.
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MKT-1.B
a. Explain (using data from PPCs or tables as appropriate) how specialization according to comparative advantage with appropriate terms of trade can lead to gains from trade.
b. Calculate (using data from PPCs or tables as appropriate) mutually beneficial terms of trade

MKT-1.B.1
Production specialization according to comparative advantage results in exchange opportunities that lead to consumption opportunities beyond the PPC.

MKT-1.B.2
Comparative advantage and opportunity costs determine the terms of trade for exchange under which mutually beneficial trade can occur.
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1.4 Demand
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MKT-2
In a competitive market, demand for and supply of a good or service determine the equilibrium price.
3.1.1 The market as a system

3.1.2 Demand and supply

3.1.4 Uses and limitations of markets

3.2.5 Moral limits of markets

3.2.1 Capitalism: definition and development

3.2.2 Capitalism: an evaluation		Regenerative Economics does not use linear demand/supply analysis. Instead the materials use causal loops with balancing and reinforcing feedback to illustrate the relationships between demand/supply, price and non-price factors.

This approach gives students a more complex and dynamic understanding of markets. It is, however, a significant departure from the syllabus so must be used carefully, especially as students can lose many marks on the exam for nitpicky graphing errors.

Here is a research paper that compares using linear supply and demand analysis with causal loop diagrams with secondary students. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343092493_Using_Visual_Representations_to_Enhance_Students%27_Understanding_of_Causal_Relationships_in_Price

The introduction to markets is also an opportunity to present some critiques of markets as a provisioning institution. Section 3.2.5 references Micheal Sandel's work on the Moral Limits of Markets to help students understand where markets do and do not belong in our economies. The two sections on capitalism help students understand what the difference between markets and how the profit maximising behavior of businesses under capitalism undermines social and ecological systems.
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MKT-2.A
a. Define (using graphs as appropriate) the law of demand.
b. Explain (using graphs as appropriate) the relationship between the price of a good or service and the quantity demanded.

MKT-2.A.1
The law of demand states there is an inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded, leading to a downward-sloping demand curve.
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MKT-2.B
Explain (using graphs as appropriate) the determinants of demand.

MKT-2.B.1
Factors that influence consumer demand, such as changes in consumer income, cause the market demand curve to shift.
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1.5 Supply
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MKT-2
In a competitive market, demand for and supply of a good or service determine the equilibrium price.
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MKT-2.C
a. Define (using graphs as appropriate) the law of supply.
b. Explain (using graphs as appropriate) the relationship between the price of a good or service and the quantity supplied.

MKT-2.C.1
The law of supply states there is a positive relationship between price and quantity supplied, leading to an upward-sloping supply curve.
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MKT-2.D
Explain (using graphs as appropriate) the determinants of supply.

MKT-2.D.1
Factors that influence producer supply, such as changes in input prices, cause the market supply curve to shift.
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1.6 Market equilibrium, disequilibrium, and changes in equilibrium
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MKT-2
In a competitive market, demand for and supply of a good or service determine the equilibrium price.
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MKT-2.E
Define (using graphs as appropriate) market equilibrium.

MKT-2.E.1
Equilibrium is achieved at the price at which quantities demanded and supplied are equal.
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MKT-2.F
a. Define a surplus and shortage.
b. Explain (using graphs as appropriate) how
prices adjust to restore equilibrium in markets that are experiencing imbalances.
c. Calculate (using graphs as appropriate) the surplus or shortage in the market experience an imbalance.

MKT-2.F.1
Whenever markets experience imbalances—creating disequilibrium prices, surpluses, and shortages—market forces drive prices toward equilibrium.
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MKT-2.G
Explain (using graphs as appropriate) how changes in demand and supply affect equilibrium price and equilibrium quantity.

MKT-2.G.1
Changes in the determinants of supply and/or demand result in a new equilibrium price and quantity.
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