What topics in economics should be taught in 6th grade / middle school

[vanguard96]

I was wondering what everyone thought about the kind of economics that should be taught in 6th grade or similar middle school level.

My thoughts
- the concept of scarcity (time, resources, etc)
- supply and demand & their impact on prices
- marginal utility
- money concepts such as what is money
- international trade
- comparative advantage
- trade-offs
- mutual benefit of trade vs zero-sum game like sport contest / political race
- simple game theory applications of markets

I think you can teach these without getting too political or too complex - and kids can get discouraged by Wall Street, financing, balance sheets, and commercial banking which can be 'boring' or 'intimidating' for some.

Some of these topics you can perhaps reword them and teach the basic concepts behind it and then later on in high school & beyond they can get more into mathematical or empirical studies and deeper dives into original economic texts and larger theory (e.g. Keynesian, neoclassical, etc).

I say this because I heard that my daughter's class will have economics as a part of social studies.

I am curious about what they will cover - especially as someone who studied the subject.

What has been your experience either as a parent (or educator) or for our younger members as a middle schooler?

[Kingpoleon]

Um... Not much?

[Blue3]

Just remember most 6th graders are not actually at a 6th grade level, and geography with things like latitude/longitude and continents usually isn't taught until 7th grade now. And don't know how to fill-out a check or understand bank accounts. Not all have finished learning long division, or pre-algebra.

It could maybe work as a 6th grade Honors Elective... or be very watered down.

[136or142]

I definitely think economics should be taught at this level.  The basic idea though would be to show how economics concepts apply to daily living and decision making.

Here in Canada the right wing Fraser Institute already has seminars where they teach these things to middle school students (grades 7-9) and in the way that I suggest.

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=55

The topics you listed mirror the topics they teach.

I personally think that it very unfortunate that the only group who seem to be doing this are the right wing Fraser Institute that promotes the nonsense of supply side 'tax cuts pay for themselves' economics as 'concepts of economics' should be taught throughout middle school. Of course, I'm not claiming that they promote their right wing economics in their seminars, I have no knowledge of that one way or the other.

[vanguard96]

I definitely think economics should be taught at this level.  The basic idea though would be to show how economics concepts apply to daily living and decision making.

Here in Canada the right wing Fraser Institute already has seminars where they teach these things to middle school students (grades 7-9) and in the way that I suggest.

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=55

The topics you listed mirror the topics they teach.

I personally think that it very unfortunate that the only group who seem to be doing this are the right wing Fraser Institute that promotes the nonsense of supply side 'tax cuts pay for themselves' economics as 'concepts of economics' should be taught throughout middle school. Of course, I'm not claiming that they promote their right wing economics in their seminars, I have no knowledge of that one way or the other.

Of course the idea is that if you teach people to be economically literate they will ask the right questions instead of blindly following a pied piper socialist like Bernie promising 'free' stuff - even if it makes sense you should not be ignorant of the trade-offs.

Some of the lessons are interesting like talking about a Robinson Crusoe type situation of marginal utility - especially divorced from currency would be easy enough for a sixth grader to understand and take to heart.

[mvd10]

Ricardo's theory of trade (the famous example) should be compulsory for everyone. It would solve some problems . It's a bit simplistic and might not even be fully applicable to our modern economy, but we're talking about 6th graders (we got this when we were 17/18) .

[vanguard96]

Ricardo's theory of trade (the famous example) should be compulsory for everyone. It would solve some problems . It's a bit simplistic and might not even be fully applicable to our modern economy, but we're talking about 6th graders (we got this when we were 17/18) .

Comparative advantage & the win-win / non-zero sum case for trade are good concepts.

[TeePee4Prez]

How to manage:

- A checking account
-  A credit card and credit scores
-  Investments


Prepare a basic tax return with a W-2.

[Kingpoleon]

I think the Laffer curve(particularly how it varies in width depending on whether it is a corporates, sales, or income tax), the various types of taxes, the basics of supply and demand, gold standard/bimetallism, unemployment, and inflation would be enough.

[136or142]

I think the Laffer curve(particularly how it varies in width depending on whether it is a corporates, sales, or income tax), the various types of taxes, the basics of supply and demand, gold standard/bimetallism, unemployment, and inflation would be enough.

I think basic concepts are more important at the grade school level because they incorporate a lot of ideas that are used in day to day life (and often used incorrectly)

1.Diminishing returns

2.Distinction between long term and short term

3.Marginal vs aggregate thinking and the related concept of equilibrium or the equimarginal principle

4.Scarcity and trade-offs.

5.Facts vs opinions (positive vs normative)

6.The concept of 'there is no such thing as a free lunch' or more broadly and more importantly (but more difficultly) the concept of second order, third order (and so on) effects.

7.Related to second order...effects, the concept of network externalities and the related idea of compliments and substitutes, and the further related idea of how ideas, concepts, products... build off of previous ideas, concepts, products...

So, for instance, one interesting discussion utilizing these things would be did the 'Laffer Curve' actually introduce anything new to economics  given that the idea that taxation levels could be made so high that they discourage economic effort was already known (President Kennedy commented on this years before the Laffer Curve came along) and given that Laffer himself never placed any numbers in his curve?

Of course, if the Laffer Curve should be taught, students should also be reminded that there is also a point to the left of the maximum where total revenues to the government go down when taxes are  lowered, a point that all of today's promoters of supply side economics seem to have forgotten.

[vanguard96]

How to manage:

- A checking account
-  A credit card and credit scores
-  Investments


Prepare a basic tax return with a W-2.

Personal finance - a Suze Orman for kids type course?

[vanguard96]

I think the Laffer curve(particularly how it varies in width depending on whether it is a corporates, sales, or income tax), the various types of taxes, the basics of supply and demand, gold standard/bimetallism, unemployment, and inflation would be enough.

Gold standard / bimetallism - you mean for talk of history? Of course now we have fiat currency so that is a topic more for understanding historical contexts. I think it would be definitely relevant for high school as you go more in depth in history to look at various economic and political events.

I think that topic is a bit rich for a middle schooler personally - particularly a 6th grader for whom a great deal of the vocabulary used in the historical and financial accounts is complicated.

Laffer curves....
But I guess if it is a visual representation of the impact of a tax, subsidy, etc then it could be OK - a bit skeptical.

Inflation is a valuable lesson.

Unemployment - its a complicated subject to teach all the underlying issues - since the reported numbers can be doctored to not show the full story.