Eight times a year, the Federal Reserve Bank publishes its Beige Book, a summary of economic conditions around the country. The Federal Reserve branch at St. Louis publishes a lot of current and historical information on the economy for adults but they also provide some educational tools for grade schoolers.

Our grandchildren will look back on these years as the “old days” and this past decade has had some memorable events – an election decided by the Supreme Court, 9/11, two wars, Katrina, the banking meltdown, the oil spill.  The St. Louis Fed features a timeline of banking, credit and policy events for the past three years.  You can also download a PDF of the timeline so that, 10 years from now, you’ll have notes when you tell your stories.  The grandkids will think you know everything.