Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Why are we forced to read poems, but not study economics?

In school (as children), most of us are forced to read poems, learn how to play some musical instrument, know the names of the main rivers and towns in our country, learn the basics in a foreign language or two and read famous novels and books.

Very few of us are forced to study the basic principles of economics while the State is in control of our education and forces us to attend school. We must choose to study economics at later stages if we are interested.

This strikes me as weird. As members of society, we are constantly being bombarded with terms like "inflation", "interest rates", "consumption", "taxes", "employment" etc. All of these terms are a part of economics in one way or another. All of them influence our choices and understanding them is necessary to make rational decisions.

For example, I would not recommend anyone using his or her vote with complete absence of basic understanding in economics.

My theory is that the State, on purpose, does not force economics down our naive throats (like it does with poems and geography) because too much and widespread understanding in economics would greatly tie the hands of the State in its relentless inflationary, irresponsible tax-financed governance of our lives.

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