International Economic Summit:
A World Trade Simulation for High School Students
300 Bay Area juniors and seniors dressed in full costume become international economic advisers for a day, to raise the standard of living for their assigned country. High schools participating: Burton High (SF), Independence High (San Jose), Milpitas High, Monte Vista High (Danville), Wasco High (Bakersfield), Jesse Bethel (Vallejo).

Thursday, April 6, 2006
Program Highlights

• 10:30 – 11:25 AM Discussion of Trade Issues: 10 students will present and persuade their case for the top issues such as energy, oil, and fair trade.
• 1:05 – 2:15 PM Trade Session: Let the games begin! Colorful chaos as students barter and negotiate their way to the winning spot.

San Francisco State University
Jack Adams Hall – top floor of the Cesar Chavez Student Union

• In a 2002 national survey of 12th grade students, only 60 percent of the students knew that sales tax "makes things more expensive to buy," nearly one quarter (21.2 percent) thought there was a national sales tax percentage of 5½ percent. 1
• The typical student who borrows to finance a bachelor’s degree at a public university graduates $15,500 in debt. The median debt level of B.A. recipients at a private nonprofit university is $19,400, and at a for-profit university is $24,600. 2

It is critical that we encourage our youth to make informed decisions about scarce resources, being responsible consumers, and to understand how the international economy could impact their lives. This program prepares students to think critically about how their every-day financial decisions play a role in the national and global economies.

Carol Eckert, FRBSF (415) 977-3853

1 2002 Jump$tart study by Lewis Mandell, Ph.D., professor of finance and managerial economics at the University at Buffalo School of Management.

2 College Board’s 2005 Trends in Student Aid.