Should K-12 Teach Finance and Economics (Commentary)

Consider this a modest proposal...

The school system in North Carolina has made a change to its curriculum that other schools nationwide should follow. I truly believe it would be a positive step toward dealing with one of our major national problems.

First the story: effective next school year (beginning in August) North Carolina high schools will require students to take a course in finance to graduate.

As one teacher says, it's about learning how to handle money: “Writing a check, getting a mortgage, absolutely. And credit -- good credit, bad credit.”

I've been pulling for this for years. Far too many "educated" adults are walking around without a clue about how the world works.

Just listen to some of the nonsense spouted by many of our political candidates - promising policies that go against the basic principles of how the economic system is supposed to work.

A number of the candidates on both sides of the aisle have built their whole careers on pandering to this kind of economic ignorance.

A move in the right direction would be to require, at the very least, a basic course in economics and finance to graduate high school. (This applies to college too.) More states should follow the North Carolina example.

Your comments welcomed and appreciated.

[Source: WJLA-TV]