Included with subscription

A subscription unlocks every workbook. Preview chapters are always free.

Subscribe for full access Sign in to start preview

First 6 lessons free. Adds to your library so you can pick up later.

Economics for Kids — Book 4

by Ryan Semerau

Ages 7–12EconomicsBankingFinance

The fourth book in the Economics for Kids series. Explains how banks work from the ground up — deposits, loans, reserves, interest rates, the Federal Reserve, bank runs, and financial crises. Makes the banking system understandable for young readers.

16 chapters · 76 lessons · first 6 free

IntroductionFree

1 · Foundations

1.1 · SafekeepingFree
1.2 · PaymentsFree
1.3 · LendingFree
1.4 · TrustFree
Chapter 1 TestFree

2 · Metal Money and Debasement

2.1 · Why Gold and SilverFree
2.2 · Coinage🔒
2.3 · Debasement🔒
2.4 · What Money Is Really About🔒
Chapter 2 Test🔒

3 · Bank Balance Sheets

3.1 · A Bank Is a Stack of Promises🔒
3.2 · Assets🔒
3.3 · Liabilities and Capital🔒
3.4 · Balance and Timing🔒
Chapter 3 Test🔒

4 · Deposits

4.1 · The Deposit Promise🔒
4.2 · Checking Accounts🔒
4.3 · Savings Accounts and Interest🔒
4.4 · Time Deposits and CDs🔒
Chapter 4 Test🔒

5 · Payments and Settlement

5.1 · A Payment Is a Message🔒
5.2 · Different Ways to Pay🔒
5.3 · Pending, Holds, and Risk🔒
5.4 · Why Settlement Matters🔒
Chapter 5 Test🔒

6 · Reserves and the Central Bank

6.1 · What Reserves Are🔒
6.2 · The Central Bank🔒
6.3 · Settlement With Reserves🔒
6.4 · Lender of Last Resort🔒
Chapter 6 Test🔒

7 · Fractional Reserve Banking

7.1 · Fractional Reserves🔒
7.2 · How Loans Create Deposits🔒
7.3 · What Limits Lending🔒
7.4 · What People Get Wrong🔒
Chapter 7 Test🔒

8 · Lending Standards

8.1 · Underwriting🔒
8.2 · Creditworthiness🔒
8.3 · Collateral and Secured Loans🔒
8.4 · Tightening and Loosening Standards🔒
Chapter 8 Test🔒

9 · Bank Interest Rates

9.1 · Interest as a Price🔒
9.2 · Deposit Rates🔒
9.3 · Loan Rates and Risk🔒
9.4 · The Spread🔒
Chapter 9 Test🔒

10 · Liquidity vs. Solvency

10.1 · Liquidity🔒
10.2 · Solvency🔒
10.3 · Why People Confuse Them🔒
10.4 · The Policy Problem🔒
Chapter 10 Test🔒

11 · Maturity Transformation

11.1 · Maturity🔒
11.2 · The Timing Mismatch🔒
11.3 · Interest Rates and Maturity🔒
11.4 · Why Banks Do It Anyway🔒
Chapter 11 Test🔒

12 · Bank Runs

12.1 · A Run Is About Timing🔒
12.2 · Information and Rumors🔒
12.3 · Deposit Insurance🔒
12.4 · Central Banks in a Panic🔒
Chapter 12 Test🔒

13 · Fiat Money and the Fed

13.1 · Fiat Money🔒
13.2 · What the Fed Is🔒
13.3 · Money Supply and Bank Lending🔒
13.4 · Inflation and Credibility🔒
Chapter 13 Test🔒

14 · Regulation and Deposit Insurance

14.1 · Why Banks Have Rules🔒
14.2 · Capital Requirements🔒
14.3 · Liquidity Rules and Stress Tests🔒
14.4 · Deposit Insurance Revisited🔒
Chapter 14 Test🔒

15 · Shadow Banking and Crises

15.1 · What Shadow Banking Is🔒
15.2 · Runs Outside Banks🔒
15.3 · How Crises Spread🔒
15.4 · Lessons From Crises🔒
Chapter 15 Test🔒

What you'll learn

✓Why banks exist and what they actually do
✓How metal money worked and what debasement means
✓What bank balance sheets, deposits, and payments are
✓How reserves, the central bank, and fractional reserve banking work
✓What lending standards and interest rates mean for borrowers
✓The difference between liquidity and solvency
✓What maturity transformation is and why it creates fragility
✓How bank runs happen and what stops them
✓What fiat money, the Fed, deposit insurance, and regulation do
✓What shadow banking is and how financial crises unfold

How to use this workbook

15 chapters, designed for one chapter per week (4 short lessons per week plus a chapter test). Each lesson takes about 15–20 minutes — read the lesson, talk it over with the AI tutor, then answer a few short questions in your own words. Your work is graded by the tutor and you can retake a chapter as many times as you need.

Prerequisites

Completion of Economics for Kids Books 1–3, or a solid understanding of basic economics, personal finance, and how money works.