The problem of economic (and financial) education ‘The problem of economic education’ is the title of a long article, published in July 1893 in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, which begins with this sentence: ‘The fact that there is a wide divergence between many of the practical conclusions of economic science, as laid down by its professional exponents, and the thought of the public at large, as reflected in current discussion and in legislation, is one with which all are familiar’.4 The author (Simon Newcomb, an American mathematician) goes on to comment on many examples of false beliefs, prejudices and misunderstandings, in particular on the advantages and disadvantages of free trade between nations,5 which hinder the dialogue between economists and public opinion.
The latter point is a good example of a ‘divergence’ that persists. More than a century later, in 1996, Paul Krugman again went through the nature of the cognitive obstacles that stand in the way of understanding the theory of comparative advantage.6 I will get back to Krugman’s article later.