The Economics Of Soccer

The
Economics
of Soccer:
How Economics Can
Affect Our Everyday
Lives and How to
Empower Your Kids
with Economic
Knowledge

By Crystal Yan

To my family, friends, and teachers who have empowered me with knowledge,
advice, and laughter.
Thank you.

1. Introduction
Economics is part of everything we do.

More than anything, it dictates choices we make everyday: should
we buy this peanut butter or that peanut butter (is the opportunity
cost of $0.76 more worth the fact that it is organic?), should we take
out a loan to buy that new car now that interest rates are up
(perhaps due to the Fed’s monetary policy?), and of course, should
we watch TV or get work done (is the opportunity cost of
regretting it later on worth the 22 minutes of sadly attempted
comedic drivel amidst seemingly never-ending, rarely clever
ads?).

Start off an internet search engine with “Americans don’t” and it
auto-completes it for you as “Americans don’t know…” And sure
enough, most Americans are pretty clueless when it comes to
economics. As my own economics teacher says, most economics
teachers across America teach how to balance a checkbook (NOT
economics) instead of Laffert curves, the Law of Diminishing
Marginal Utility, and Say’s Law.

And so, Economics for All began as an economics class project and
evolved into a call to action: an initiative to make learning about
scarcity and buying “stuff” (As our economics teacher says, money
doesn’t make us rich. Stuff does) fun and interactive in every Web
2.0 way possible for K-12 youth.

This short e-book contains a very easy, fun, and interactive activity
and lesson plan for K-12 educators and non-profit organizations
that work with youth to implement.

This activity is inspired by the Oxfam America World Trade
Organization Soccer Game. Though inspired by that activity, this
one has been modified quite a bit so it focuses more on general
macroeconomics principles and less on the agencies that oversee
free trade. I take no credit for the original concept of this soccer

game activity, and this e-book is meant to serve as a
noncommercial resource to modify an activity I found inspiring to
teach macroeconomic principles.

Read this and take action. In less than an hour, your kids will get
some fresh air and exercise, learn some sportsmanship, and of
course, several macroeconomics principles some adults aren’t
even familiar with.

If you like what you see, I encourage you to visit our blog at
econforall.tumblr.com or follow our tweets at
twitter.com/econforall to read and learn macroeconomic
principles in 140 characters or less.

Enjoy!

Crystal Yan
Founder, Economics for All

2. Game On
Below is an interactive activity and lesson plan to implement.
Handouts and resources for this activity are in chapter 3, “The
Economics of Soccer”. Make sure to read through this chapter and
the next to fully understand the lesson before you implement the
activity.

This activity works best with groups of 20-30 students. Although
Economics for All is a program for K-12 youth, this activity may
work best with middle and high school age students as the first
stage of the lesson requires a certain level of maturity in terms of
sportsmanship.

Agenda:
1 min: Divide students into teams.
5 min: Play game.

1 min: Intermission 1. Enact new rules.
5 min: Play game.
5 min: Play game.
5 min: Play game.
5 min: Play game.
20 min: Debrief. Lead discussion and implement lesson handouts
in chapter 3.
Time: About 50 min.

Resources/Supplies Needed:
One soccer ball
Soccer field
Four orange traffic cones
Economics of Soccer handout (see chapter 3)

1. Set up the soccer field with two orange cones on each side for
goals. Do not use regular soccer goals for this activity.
2. Divide the student into two teams. Even/odd numbers of student
ID numbers or alphabetically by last names A-M and N-Z work well
to initially divide the students, then adjust teams so there are equal
numbers of players on both sides.
3. Start the two teams off in a casual game of soccer. Make sure
each team chooses one student to play the position of goalie.
Choose one team as Team A and one as Team B.
4. Tell teams that each side will have the opportunity to call “foul”
on the other side three times. When refereeing, choose to “take
the side” of Team A every time Team B brings up a dispute. There
is a reason for this (see chapter 3). When students protest, shrug
your shoulders and don’t explain just yet.
5. Intermission 1. After five minutes, take one minute to move the
cones for the goal for Team A closer together (so it’s harder for
Team B to kick the ball in) and move the cones for Team B farther
apart (so it’s easier for Team A to kick the ball in). There is a
reason for this (see chapter 3), and all instructions for future
intermissions. Tell Team A that now two successful goals are equal
to one point for the next five minutes, but don’t tell Team B.

6. Allow the students to return back to their game of soccer.
7. Intermission 2. After five minutes, take one minute to tell Team B
they are not allowed to have a goalie. The goalie will now be out of
the game. Also, Team A is only allowed to have up to 5 points
scored against them. Any more goals than that doesn’t count. Also,
tell Team A that now one goal is one point and tell both teams
(Team A already knew) that for the last five minutes, two goals was
only equal to one point.
9. Intermission 3. After five minutes, take one minute to tell Team A
they can kick one player out from Team B (they will likely pick one
of Team B’s strongest players) if they agree to give Team B one
free shot at an open, unmanned goal. Team B will not have this
option. If Team A takes the deal, this player will now be out of the
game. Also, now an additional point can be scored if one team gets
control the ball in the first kickoff.
11. Intermission 4. After five minutes, take one minute to tell Team
A that they can take another player from Team B, this time to join
their team (they will likely pick one of Team B’s strongest players).
This player will now be on Team A. Also, all points scored against
Team A at this point are now void.
13. After five minutes, end the game. Hopefully, if this is done right
with all the new rules, Team A will have won and Team B will be
angry and feel cheated. This is expected.
14. Sit them down in a circle and mediate arguments. Have
students calm down and quiet down and pass out slips of paper
(see handout in chapter 3).
15. There won’t be enough slips of paper for all students, so have
every other student take one and ask those students read what’s on
the paper aloud.
16. The slips of paper will define macroeconomic principles. Ask
each student what they thought was in the game that corresponded
to teach macroeconomic principle. Let students know the correct
answer and explain the principles If they have any questions.

3. The Economics of
Soccer
Handout:

Instructions: Take the following macroeconomic concepts and print
them out. Cut them into separate slips of paper and have them
ready before the game for debrief. Students will be asked to match
something in the soccer game to these principles.

If there’s enough time afterward: If you’re a K-12 educator, lead a
discussion relating the activity and the principles to where your
class is in your curriculum. If you’re a non-profit, ask students what
they thought economics was about and teach them some more
economic principles.

1. Government subsidies are a way for government to enable
production of a certain good or service to favor certain
businesses. When the government subsidizes a good or service,
it makes it cheaper for a business to produce that good or
service so it makes more profit (or any at all). Can you think of
an example of a government subsidy?
2. Tariffs are a form of restriction to free trade. A tariff is a tax on
imports. When one country places a tariff on imported products
from another country, it means that that country’s products will
cost more to consumers than they were before and then
consumers will likely choose domestic products over foreign
products. Most tariffs are placed to supposedly “protect
domestic businesses”. Can you think of a tariff a country has
now or has had before?
3. Quotas are another form of restriction to free trade. When one
country places a quota on imported goods from another
country, it means that only a certain number of that good can be
imported. This means some customers will have to choose
domestic goods. Most quotas are placed to supposedly “protect

domestic businesses”. Can you think of a quota a country has
now or has had before?
4. Embargoes are another form of restriction to free trade.
When one country places an embargo on another country, it
means that country is not allowed to import from or export to
that country. In short, the countries are not allowed to trade with
each other at all. Most embargoes are placed for political
reasons. Can you think of any embargoes you know of?
5. Opportunity cost/trade-off is the cost of giving up one thing
for another. For example, the opportunity cost of going to the
movies with your friends means less studying for your
economics test coming up. The opportunity cost of going on that
family vacation is not only the expenses incurred to go on that
vacation (for example, the cost of flight tickets are part of those
expenses), but also the chance to make $50 that weekend
babysitting the neighbor’s kids. Can you think of some
examples of opportunity cost in your life?
6. Inflation is when the price level increases so the value of each
dollar is less. Remember when your grandparents say “Back in
my day, soda was only $0.10 a bottle!” they’re talking about
inflations. Now, $0.10 will buy less because there was been a lot
of inflation since their day. Can you think of another example of
inflation?
7. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) Deflator helps clarify
misconceptions in thinking that the GDP of a nation is always
increasing when most of the time the increase in GDP is due to
inflation. The GDP Deflator calculates the “real” GDP by taking
inflation into account.
8. Money illusion is when consumers think they have more
money/value than they actually do because they forget about
inflation. For example, if someone got a 2% raise, he/she would
be very happy and think they are richer. However, if inflation
was 3%, they actually got less than the year before. But because
the nominal salary of this person is still higher, he/she thinks
that he/she is richer and that thinking is known as money
illusion.
9. Bimetallism is when money is measured as a ratio against not
one, but two commodities, most commonly gold and silver. Both
ratios are accepted.

10. The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility states that the more
of a product a consumer consumes, the less benefit per
additional unit of that product the consumer receives. For
example, if you eat one serving of your favorite homemade
dish, you’ll love it. But how would you feel about eating the
tenth serving?

Answer Key:
Note: The referee is the World Trade Organization and/or
government. Teams A and B are nations.

1. Government subsidies: Helping Team A win by letting them take
out Team B players is like the government subsidizing for Team A.
It favors Team A just like government favors certain businesses
when it subsidizes their products.
2. Tariffs: Making Team A’s goal smaller is like a tariff. It restricts
the points coming in like rich nations restrict imports coming in
from developing nations.
3. Quota: Announcing Team B is only allowed to score up to 5
points against Team A is like a quota. It limits points coming in like
quotas limit imports coming in.
4. Embargo: Making all further points scored against Team A void
is like an embargo. It prevents any further points from coming in
like embargoes prevent any imports from coming in.
5. Opportunity cost, Trade-off: The chance for Team A to take Team
B’s strongest player at the opportunity cost of giving Team B one
free shot illustrates the economic principle of opportunity cost.
6. Inflation: When the rules changed so that two kicks meant one
point, it was like inflation. Each kick was worth less just like each
dollar is worth less when the price level is too high.
7. GDP Deflator: When the rules changed back so that one kick
meant one point, it was like “deflating” the inflation. It took the
inflation into account and “corrected” it. Similarly, the GDP of a
nation is often miscalculated as always on the rise due to rising
inflation and the GDP Deflator takes the inflation into account and
“corrects” it into the real GDP. The action of changing the rules
back was like the GDP Deflator.
8. Money illusion: Only Team A knew about the brief inflationary
period. Team B was under the impression that their goals were

worth the same amount. They experienced money illusion, much
like some consumers do when they are under the impression that
they have more money because they have a greater nominal
amount of money even when they have less value because of
inflation.
9. Bimetallism: When teams are told they can score an additional
point for getting control of the ball in the kickoff, this is like
bimetallism. Bimetallism is when ratios for gold and silver are both
accepted. Similarly, goals and getting control of the ball after
kickoff are now both accepted ways to score a point.
10. Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility: This was a hard one. This
actually was a comparison to two students in the group. If one
student was a soccer player, he/she probably scored quite a few
times and was probably proud each time, but perhaps less so for
each additional goal because he/she is used to doing well in
soccer. For another student in the group, he/she may not be an
avid soccer player and was probably very proud in scoring even
one goal because he/she doesn’t play soccer often and didn’t
expect it.

4. More Resources
Here are some websites I would recommend visiting:

Economics for All:
1. Economics for All Blog: http://econforall.tumblr.com
2. Economics for All Twitter: http://twitter.com/econforall

Universities:
3. Yale Economics Open Courses Online:
http://oyc.yale.edu/economics
4. UC Berkeley Open Courses Online:
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses.php
5. MIT Economics Open Courses Online:
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Economics/index.htm
6. Princeton Lectures Online:
http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/lectures/

Non-profit Organizations and Foundations:
7. Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE):
http://www.nfte.com/
8. Foundation for Economic Education (FEE): http://fee.org/
9. Foundation for Teaching Economics (FTE):
http://www.fte.org/

5. Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. As
your students have learned by now, economics is a part of our
everyday lives. Every time you see a kid peddling ice cold
lemonade or cookies at a bake sale, you see economics in action
among our youth.

Just a couple months ago, I was talking to my younger sister, then
in middle school. At the young age of 13, she had already
understood the laws of supply and demand. You see, at her middle
school, students get “head of the line” passes for good behavior,
and use these passes to go through a shorter line to buy lunch. My
sister, ever the good student, was overwhelmed with too many
“head of the line” passes for her own good, and had decided to
use her passes to go through a shorter line and buy food for her
friends, turn around, and charge them a higher price to net herself
a handsome profit. She realized quickly that the demand was
growing for not only snacks but snacks as soon as possible, and so
took advantage of that demand and charged the higher price
accordingly.

Think of the things your students can achieve with a solid
education in economics. Think of a world in which “Americans
don’t” auto-completes as “Americans don’t experience money
illusion”.

Please take advantage of this book and share it with any educators
or youth organization leaders you know!

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to check out our blog at
econforall.tumblr.com or follow our tweets at
twitter.com/econforall!

6. About the Author
Crystal Yan (严晨) is @crystalcy on Twitter.
She is a trilingual Chinese American student
entrepreneur in the San Francisco Bay Area.
As a serial social entrepreneur with a focus
on youth marketing and online social media
strategy, she has collaborated with a
socially responsible start-up to start an
internship program for high school and
college students, worked as a consultant in
a consulting firm to help a non-profit
expand its donor and volunteer program in
its 50 centers throughout the Bay Area, recruited high schools to
participate in microfinance fundraising program for a nationally
recognized microfinance non-profit, interned for a personal
branding company, won the national championship scholarship for
a debate-like case study competition in Banking and Financial
Systems, and worked pro-bono on graphic design projects for the
largest student business organization in the world, an international
non-profit, an award-winning robotics team, and many more.
Crystal also sits on the board of a governing body that oversees
6,000+ student leaders and leads a language honor society chapter
that runs a nationally-acclaimed debate program. Crystal aspires
to attend a four-year college and contribute to the fields of global
business, foreign affairs, corporate philanthropy or international
aid.

Read my blog: http://crystaly.wordpress.com/
Visit my LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/crystaly
Take a look at my Twitter profile: http://twitter.com/crystalcy

View my online portfolio for graphic design and photography:
http://crystaly.carbonmade.com/

6. About Economics For
All
Economics for All is an initiative to make learning economics fun
and interactive for K-12 youth.

Our pilot programs include a free e-book with interactive lesson
plans to implement for K-12 educators and non-profits, as well as a
Twitter account summarizing 20 basic macroeconomic principles
in 140 characters or less.

Visit our blog at econforall.tumblr.com or follow our tweets at
twitter.com/econforall!

The Economics Of Soccer

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