Then they can handle basic economics.
“Unicorns don’t exist.” All economic logic follows from this observation. Simple, right? Unfortunately, the poor state of economic understanding among many Americans indicates to me not only that the idea is subtly complex, but also that people do have an affinity for mythical, horned creatures.
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If seventh graders are capable of appreciating the causes of the American Revolution, and the nuances of cellular mitosis, then they are more than capable of grasping that anytime we make a decision, we have a tradeoff to deal with.
What fool would write such a thing? I’ll have more to say on the idea in a future paper.
The problem is not what 7th graders are capable, but rather what teachers know and believe. Many I have known are knee-jerk socialists whose economic understanding is about as good as Ben Stein’s students in Forrest Buehler’s Day Off.
I, however, incapable of writing a reliablly grammatical sentence.
Capable OF.
Great Op Ed if you go to the link. I would love to take on the challenge of introducing younger kids to basic concepts of economics. I have no idea how I’d do it, but they live it every day, how hard can it be? … And Harry, it’s Ferris Buehler 🙂
You had me going on the “fool” bit, because I had agreed to was was cited then was wondering why you would call the author a fool.
Thanks jb. No wonder I couldn’t find it in the video store.
Popular progressive pedagogy prescribes that pre-high students be taught according to Piaget’s principles.
After saying that, how can one suppose they will understand the supply curve?