The Iconomix unit ‘Economic trends’, which is published on a quarterly basis, offers an up-to-date, practical way to bring the topic of economics to life in the classroom.
Economics as a topic is a core element of almost every curriculum at upper secondary school level. However, many teachers are faced with the challenge of conveying the economic context of the topic – such as its cyclical behaviour, influencing factors and the role it plays in everyday life – in a clear and accessible way.
Textbooks often present the topic in a very abstract and simplistic manner, which makes it difficult to connect it to the real world and ignores the dynamics of current economic developments. It can also be a challenge to spark students’ interest in a topic that is initially perceived to be rather dry.
The ‘Economic trends’ unit provides a solution to these problems. What makes it special is that a new issue is published every quarter, focusing on the current economic situation and the forecast for economic developments in Switzerland. Thus the topic becomes not only real and applicable to everyday life, but is conveyed in a lively and up-to-date manner.
Each issue is based on excerpts from the corresponding quarterly publication by SECO and is divided into four sections:
Integrated into the advanced text are a series of exercises that aid the understanding and processing of the contents and encourage further thought. On average, each of the four sections contains four such exercises. The advanced text with exercises is generally six to seven pages long. Once logged in, the teacher can customise the document (‘create your own version’).
In addition to the advanced text with exercises, two sets of slides are available (in German only) – a set of slides with charts and tables from the SECO publication, as well as a set of slides containing background knowledge on how economic forecasts are made, written by Professor Aymo Brunetti from the University of Bern. The individual components can be combined flexibly to suit the level of the class.
Owing to its strong focus on current events and Switzerland, the curriculum topic ‘economic trends’ is thus relevant and accessible for students. At the same time, it actively encourages them to think about economic interrelationships.
The 2025 spring issue was published on 14 April 2025.