I think it is at least plausible to propose that a vast swathe of bad ideas and damaging policies are borne on the wings not of malevolence or even stupidity, but simply economic illiteracy: a fundamental failure to grasp how money actually works.
If that is the case, then this kind of thing is encouraging:
Personal finance education looks set to become a regular part of school life, following a series of successful pilot schemes across the country.
The charity the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) has been working with teachers to help them provide extra-curricular lessons covering everything from straightforward budgeting to calculating interest and getting a good deal on a mobile phone.
One teacher said: “I think it will broaden their horizons; they will certainly have a better understanding of how to manage money. I think they’ll also have a better understanding of the taxation system and why you pay tax.”
However, enthusiasm should be tempered by the possibility that the subject is not being taught very well or, worse, that the whole thing is the project of ghastly statists who want to use this as a means of driving home pro-tax propaganda to a new generation.
But, those caveats aside, this could be welcome because even if it transpires that this is really all part of a lefty ‘get-them-while-their-young’ programme, the effect might be to start prodding young brain cells in directions that their teachers never intended them to go.
I think they’ll also have a better understanding of the taxation system and why you pay tax.
Because if you don’t then men with guns will come and arrest you and take your possessions, and if you resist they might shoot you?
Hmmm.
So let me get this straight. People are actually going to teach kids how to shop? sigh. Who knows. It’s probably a good idea. I think that definitely says something about modern society though. Perhaps there should be a “Life Skills” course for all students. Something that would teach them how to do all those myriad things that we all tend to stumble over during our lives. Such as how to read a lease, basic law and legalese, the tax code and it’s workings. Perhaps a few classes on basic cooking for bachelors.
Still seems a bit goofy though.
This kind of thing was started in Georgia (USA) a couple of decades ago.
In the late 1970s the Georgia state legislature decided that the economic chaos of the 70s was not due to politicians doing stupid things but rather stupid people pressuring politicians to do stupid things.
If the state would only teach the children economics then when they grew up they would know better than to ask stupid things of their smart politicians.
So, a law was passed. In order to graduate from high school in Georgia, *every* student had to take a class in economics.
So, when I ended up taking the class back in 1986 it was taught by a football coach who did everything in his power to help most of the class pass the course. Since everyone had to take it to graduate, the coach had to teach to the lowest common.
This meant just memorizing a few economics vocabulary words, a few dates, and the names of a few government agencies.
I learned nothing about economics, but it was the easiest class I ever took in my life. Sweet!
And, you know, some idiots still managed to fail.
As a member of the Anglosphere, JFM tries to look at things all around the globe that are good for economic freedom and prosperity, and the “tax-man take the hindmost”. One thing that is available in the U.S. [sadly not mandatory] is the Junior Achievement Program. This would be FAR better than that pathetic “class” mentioned in the post.
I think they’ll also have a better understanding of the taxation system and why you pay tax
I’d love to overhear the classroom debate sparked off by, “my dad says tax is theft!”
I wonder if any curriculum would include the following books on the syllabus? We can dream:
Economics in One Lesson, by Henry Hazlitt.
Free to Choose, by Milton Friedman
Anything related to business by Robert Heinlein (“There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch”)
Basic Economics, by Thomas Sowell.
That should put the young ‘uns on the right track.
When I was in high school, *mumble* years ago, one teacher offered an elective course in economics. Part of the class was an introduction to economics for a quarter. The second quarter was a game. Each student took a job running either a corporation, labor union, or government agency.
Our teacher had done a good job of setting up the game. There were lots of conflicts waiting to boil over. There were ridiculous regulations, labor contracts with terms that one side or the other would be unwilling to live with and so forth.
I don’t remember how the labor union or government agency grades were determined, but the CEOs were graded according to the percentage increase in dividends. In that class in my late teens, I learned that Enron scandals are inevitable so long as executive compensation is linked to easily manipulated short term performance goals at the expense of the long term health of the company.
I’d love to overhear the classroom debate sparked off by, “my dad says tax is theft!”
Kind of ironic in a public school, isn’t that?
“In the late 1970s the Georgia state legislature decided that the economic chaos of the 70s was not due to politicians doing stupid things but rather stupid people pressuring politicians to do stupid things.”
“Is this mob getting louder or stupider?”
– Mayor Quimby