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Taxes and Regulation

Constitution,Great Depression,property,liberty,Founders,George Washington,Sixteenth Amendment

Taxes and Regulations Activity: Analyzing Taxes and Regulations

Work through Handout A: Graphing and Analyzing the Effects of Taxes as a class to instruct students on graph and analyze taxes. Then pass out Handout B: Graphing Taxes and have students complete the graphs individually or in groups. Review the answers as a whole group.

Next, have students complete Handout C: Graphing and Analyzing the Effects of Regulations. Review the answers as a whole group.

As a closing activity or an extension activity have students talk to their parents about a tax or regulation. Then have students think about: “What if the tax or regulation was not there, how would the marketplace look?” and draw a graph of the marketplace without the government tax or regulation and then with the added tax or regulation.

Then have the student answer the following questions: Who benefits? Who does not benefit? Students can present to the class their individual government tax or regulation analysis or the teacher can call on a few students to present.

Student Handouts

Handout A: Graphing and Analyzing the Effects of Taxes

Handout B: Graphing Taxes

Handout C: Graphing and Analyzing the Effects of Regulations

Related Resources

Essay

Essay: Taxes and Regulation

1304 Words

In America’s free society, entrepreneurs of many kinds start businesses that create the nation's wealth. The Founders established the federal government in the Constitution, and the American people ratified it to protect the rights and property of its citizens. That meant that national defense, court systems, and political administration all became part of the U.S. government. Therefore, some taxes were necessary to support the limited functions of this new government.