Should high schools students be required to take a personal finance class?
Students would surely benefit from at least basic personal finance education in high school. I have read about surveys of adults in the U.S. that show the level of understanding of personal finance principles is extremely low. We would all benefit if more people made smarter financial decisions and managed their savings, assets, and liabilities better. The U.S. savings rate has been declining for two decades now. This is one area, for example, that might be improved through education if people understand the consequences of their low rate of saving. There should also be a mandatory course in economics in high school (especially macro economics). The general understanding of economic principles is also very low in the U.S. Although there are different schools of economic thought, economists generally agree on a great many things (much more than they disagree about). We need economic literacy to make smart economic decisions as individuals and as a society in general. The world’s economy
