[extropy-chat] economics of scarcity to economics of plenty

[Robin Hanson]

At 11:41 AM 11/1/2005, Brian Atkins wrote:
>Jeff Davis wrote:
>>Our culture does NOT make a focused effort to train
>>people to be economically savvy,
>
>I completely agree with that.
>I was thinking about it yesterday after I posted... was reminded of 
>my high school experience, wherein I was forced as part of the 
>curriculum to take some vocational classes. The choices were things 
>like: typing, computer word processing, "home economics", drafting, wood shop.
>How many kids would choose a "business 101 + investing" choice if 
>they had offered it? Why isn't something like this a standard 
>offering in schools?

This is an excellent, and I think deep question.  Well worth 
pondering at length.  Why indeed.  Not only are there no courses to 
teach you how to invest in or run a business, they also teach little 
about how to be a savvy consumer.



Robin Hanson  rhanson at gmu.edu  http://hanson.gmu.edu
Associate Professor of Economics, George Mason University
MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444
703-993-2326  FAX: 703-993-2323