Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Economics 101, Something Most Americans Aren't Capable Of


Today the Federal Reserve used some "creative accounting", essentially hooking jumper cables to the United States economy. We always see headlines like these, saying "the Dow jumped 400 points today" and things of that nature. How many Americans actually know what's going on? I have had tons of economics classes, so I roughly understand what is going on in the economy. But how many Americans can actually look at this news story and actually say that they have a clue about what is going on? This is because our public education system is stacked against students. I didn't even have the option to take an economics class in my high school, and many other schools only offer optional, basic courses. To me, I would think that concepts of taxation, credit, buying a home, getting a loan, and etc. would be CRUCIAL to someone's education, but our schools don't teach those things! It took me to college to learn anything about taxes, and that's because I was lucky enough to be REQUIRED to take an economics course, which I then made my minor. Not knowing these crucial life lessons allows bodies of government to exploit citizens, simply because they DON'T KNOW ANY BETTER. Removing economics from school curriculum creates generations of dependent and ignorant consumers and citizens, simply because they are kept in the dark with regards to economic issues.

1 comment:

Evan Kroske said...

I completely agree. Schools are quick to fund intangible and barely applicable classes and very slow to invest in subjects that will actually influence their student's daily lives. It's good to see some conservative opinions on this site...