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Fall 2012

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 28, Number 1

Categories: Fall 2012 | Education

Why Economic Education Is Dangerous for Politicians

Mark C. Schug, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Dwight R. Lee, University of Georgia and Ball State University

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TheJournalofPrivateEnterprise28(1),2012,47–60WhyEconomicEducationIsDangerousforPoliticiansMarkC.SchugUniversityofWisconsin-MilwaukeeDwightR.LeeSouthernMethodistUniversityAbstractThispaperexploresreasonswhypre-collegeeconomiceducationisnotmorewidespread.Althoughsurveydatasuggestthatadultsthinkthateconomicsisimportantinthepre-collegecurriculum,thestudyofeconomicstendstobedelayeduntilthelastpossiblemomentinschooling,ifitisincludedatall.Wearguethatifvoterstookseriouslysuchbasiceconomicconceptsasscarcity,opportunitycost,andincentivesandappliedthemtopublicissues,itwouldmakelifemoredifficultforpoliticianswhopreferaworldinwhichpeoplethinktheycangetsomethingfornothing.Thepaperanalyzesaspectsofpublicchoicetheorytohelpexplainwhypoliticiansareadversetowidespreadeconomiceducation.Weconcludewiththoughtsregardinghowthingscouldbedifferent.JELCodes:A12,A13,A21Keywords:Pre-collegeeconomiceducation;PublicchoicetheoryI.Introduction“Thefirstlessonofeconomicsisscarcity:Thereisneverenoughofanythingtosatisfyallthosewhowantit.Thefirstlessonofpoliticsistodisregardthefirstlessonofeconomics.”ThomasSowell(1993,p.131)InspiredbyThomasSowell,thepurposeofthispaperistoexplorereasonswhyeconomiceducationisnotmorewidespreadattheprecollegelevel.“Economiceducation”commonlyinvolvesteachingcollegestudentsthebasicprinciplesofeconomicbyprofessorswithPhDsinthediscipline.ButasignificantamountofeconomiceducationtakesplaceattheK-12gradelevels,mostoften47

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Metadata [hide]

Title	Why Economic Education Is Dangerous for Politicians
Authors/Creators:	Mark C. Schug, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Dwight R. Lee, University of Georgia and Ball State University
Year:	2012
Volume:	28
Number:	1
Pages:	47 - 60
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	economic education, Public choice theory, high school, opportunity cost, scarcity

Citation:
Schug, Mark C.; Lee, Dwight R. / 2012. "Why Economic Education Is Dangerous for Politicians." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 28(1): 47-60.