Why Teach Economics in High School?

Economics is an elective in our schools today.  I find this strange because economics is a
word that is used everyday.  How do you define economics?  Webster’s dictionary
defines economics as follows: “a social science concerned chiefly with the
description and analysis of the production, distribution and consumption of
goods and services.” Others define it as “The social science that deals with
the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services and with
the theory and management of economics or economies,” or “The branch of
knowledge concerned with the production, consumption and transfer of wealth.” Wikipedia defines it as…well you go to the site and see for yourself. 

Which one of these is correct is not for me to decide because I am not an economist.  What it
did was give me cause to find out more.  What I found is that economics really is the study of  ”cause and effect”.  Economists cannot predict the future; they can only put in terms that the average person can’t understand.  But like most things in our lives it is the “if I do this then what will be the effect” way we control our lives.  For many of us it stops at that level when we
should continue that thought to the very end.  That made sense to me so I read on.  A simple thing like going to the grocery store or buying gas, a car or house or even renting an apartment involves the exchange of money.  Where does the money come from and where does it go.  You work and your employer pays you but where does he get the money from? 
You buy something and pay money for that product and where does that money go?   I think in order to understand your own personal success or failure in life you must understand the
economics of not just the decision that you make but the politicians that govern this country and it economics. 

No country can exist without economics... whether the government controls the economy of a country  or the people control it. An example of people controlling economy is as simple as you wanting to buy a house and someone wanting to sell a home.  You negotiate, agree on a price, seek financing from a bank, which checks your credit and value of the purchase to protect them from making a bad deal (much like you would not buy a car and then found out it had no engine).  Pretty simple?  

The other form of economy is government controlled.  Some call it socialism, Marxist or even
communism.  However we are not a socialist society, yet we have a government controlled economy in most areas of our lives.  We think we are a free market democracy.  We were several hundred years ago but we have slowly given up control of our lives and our futures.  Here is an example of the same aforementioned transaction however this time the government gets involved.  

You negotiate and agree on a price, seek financing from a bank, which checks your credit and value of the purchase before, however, this time you do not qualify because you don’t make enough money or the home is not worth the value.  The government hears your plea that there is no affordable housing so a quasi-government agency comes up with a plan to put you into a home that you could not afford.  First they agree that you should not need a 20% down payment and that your income does not need to be verified. Then they offer to make the down payment in the form of a second mortgage to you.  Now if you own the bank you’re thinking no way am I making this loan unless someone guarantees it.  So the government forms an agency that guarantees the loan.  They charge a small fee for this service and then ask the lender to make the loan and if it goes to default then they will cover the expense. 
Needless to say many of these loans are in default because the second mortgage was a balloon payment that required payment or refinancing at the end of a 3 . Most of the buyers could not refinance because the value of the homes did not appreciate, hence foreclosure.  Still seems simple to me.  

How did we get in this mess, economics?  No, we are in this mess because of our lack of
understanding of economics.  We are here because we are afraid to be responsible for own lives.  We are here because we have entrusted people who do not understand the economic machine that made this country great.  We are here because we believe we are entitled to the things we want rather than earn the things we are able to pay for.  We are here because we are afraid of what the future holds. We vote for people who think they can protect you from the future and give you the things you want with guarantees that are based on the ability of certain people to pay for those things.  We got us into this mess and only we can get us out. We start with our schools and improving the curriculum that they are taught and we can follow that up by understanding that if you follow money in both directions (where it came from and where it is going) all the way to the end you will see that we can fix this mess.  This example is true wherever the government as a third party in any transaction. The playing field becomes unbalanced because the government takes sides.  

By the way, I guess the government did finally provide “affordable housing,” just look at all the foreclosures and more on the way.  Problem is they also told the  lender that they needed to tighten up their lending guidelines. Wow!!  First our elected officials wrote the laws that caused this mess then closed the door to the banks lending by writing more laws  making it tougher for people  to buy these new “affordable homes” that they created  (foreclosures).