320 Nelson Street, P.O. Box 778, Tiffin, OH 44883
Phone (419) 448-3200 Fax (419) 447-3274
General E-Mail: adtrib@bright.net
Newsroom E-Mail: atnews@bright.net

Economic education should be expanded

Most of us haven't a clue about securities arbitrage or the money supply. And most of us probably don't need to know anything about them. But everyone needs to have some basic knowledge of economics in the real world. Sadly, it appears that kids aren't being taught what they should know.

According to the National Council on Economic Education, 60 percent of high school students do not understand the purpose of profits and think wages are set by government rules.

Given the vast amount of economic bunk spread around by politicians, it's not too surprising that kids are confused. For them, the government does set wages &emdash; the minimum wage. Too many history and social studies textbooks are infused with the idea that profits are bad, so it's little wonder kids don't know why profits are good.

If you'll excuse what might sound like, "Listen, sonny, I walked uphill, two miles through three-foot snowdrifts to school every day &emdash; both ways," fewer kids these days seem interested in mowing lawns, shoveling driveways and other things kids used to do to earn a few bucks. Money sadly is no more real to some teens than it is to the average four-year-old. It's just some mysterious thing Mom and Dad use to buy groceries and there never seems to be enough of.

The Council sees a need for more direct economic education, particularly in high schools. As Federal Reserve Governor Edward Gramlich points out, seemingly ordinary financial transactions, such as mortgages, involve increasingly complex financial instruments that people should be able to grasp. We would add that a degree of financial literacy is vital in an era of self-directed retirement saving.

The Council certainly is on to something, but considering all of the other burdens heaped upon the schools we would hesitate to add a special economics requirement. Instead, schools should carefully examine their curriculums and instill fundamental aspects of a market economy into what already is being taught. Parents could help too, by rousting Johnny from his Nintendo on a snowbound day and sending him down the block to find out where price, supply and demand come together in the snow-shoveling market.