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How money works should really be elementary school level education. Using games and simple setups that replicate the essence if not the details. The fact that

How money works should really be elementary school level education. Using games and simple setups that replicate the essence if not the details. The fact that there is such widespread financial illiteracy is a key reason society is so dysfunctional.

kderbyma 4y ago
I would hazard a guess that it has been intentionally muddied, made confusing, opaque, and left til the last minute for a reason.....interest rates and credit scores.
- college_physics 4y ago
  I don't think its intentional (the overlords?) but it is an unjustifiable gap for any society that considers itself democratic. Its not just the broad unwashed masses. Essentially outside a tiny number of central banking economists the rest of the world has still "flat Earth" level understanding of how monetary systems work, the role of private banks and, crucially, what alternatives there might be and pros/cons. Efforts for financial literacy, to the extend they exist, are inadequate and incomplete, essentially manuals for smoothing financial product consumption, not background knowledge on how and why these systems are setup. Its a fixable gap. Compared to the amount of complexity of material people are exposed to at different school levels, this stuff is really not that difficult.
  - danielmarkbruce 4y ago
    People have a flat earth understanding of many topics because they are complex and take a lot of work to understand. It would be nice if everyone understood the basics of human biology and health care - but it's incredibly complex. I'm a health care flat earther.... I might always be. Understanding the legal system would likely be more helpful to most than the financial system. But again, takes lot of work to get there. For most people, this stuff doesn't matter.
    - college_physics 4y ago
      Still, for many complex topics the standard curriculum would at least try: there is plenty of biology, chemistry, physics and math on offer. While for many people unfortunately this material flies over their head (a different topic), there is a reasonable fraction that gets comfortable and can contribute to the public debate when needed (think eg vaccines) The contrast with money is that it affects literaly everybody and everyday, but far fewer people have a grasp of the basics. btw, this became very obvious with the whole cryptocurrency phenomenon which for the first time exposed this gap (it also prompted some central banks to start explaining) The legal angle is very important too. People have maybe an intuitive understanding of rights and obligations linked to contracts, but understanding legal entities and the role of corporations is very limited. Ultimately the objective is not to make everybody an expert on these specialized domains, but have enough informed citizens so that they participate in debates, influence policy decisions etc instead of being at the mercy of insiders
      - danielmarkbruce 4y ago
        Not trying to be argumentative, but, what would the result be? Ie, let's say citizens were informed enough on the banking/financial system - what would be different?
abigail95 4y ago
I don't know where you live but I learned fractional reserve and central banking in elementary school.
danielmarkbruce 4y ago
Except there isn't agreement on the definition of "money" (because it's more complex than it seems on the surface), and there isn't agreement on how it works.
- college_physics 4y ago
  Agreed, but the point of (good) education is not inject revealed truth but train people to think. The different "definitions" are in reality different social contracts so there is nothing to agree on (but one can question which types are more appropriate for what type of economy etc).
  - danielmarkbruce 4y ago
    Maybe, but this isn't elementary school stuff. It's complicated. To really understand it requires some knowledge of law, business, finance, human psychology, math and history. There is a good reason it's so misunderstood.
    - college_physics 4y ago
      Elementary school was mostly a figure of speech. It should really be an ongoing learning track, starting as early as possible. I think in gamified and simplified form one can definitely setup trading games and the like and "get them while they are young". Later adapted to the cognitive abilities of each level. Content is not strictly just about monetery systems: a number of other core concepts from economics and law / contracts in particular. The bottom line is that modern society is absolutely obsessed with money and knows practically nothing about it. Not a good combination.
      - danielmarkbruce 4y ago
        Fair points.

kderbyma 4y ago

I would hazard a guess that it has been intentionally muddied, made confusing, opaque, and left til the last minute for a reason.....interest rates and credit scores.

college_physics 4y ago
I don't think its intentional (the overlords?) but it is an unjustifiable gap for any society that considers itself democratic. Its not just the broad unwashed masses. Essentially outside a tiny number of central banking economists the rest of the world has still "flat Earth" level understanding of how monetary systems work, the role of private banks and, crucially, what alternatives there might be and pros/cons. Efforts for financial literacy, to the extend they exist, are inadequate and incomplete, essentially manuals for smoothing financial product consumption, not background knowledge on how and why these systems are setup. Its a fixable gap. Compared to the amount of complexity of material people are exposed to at different school levels, this stuff is really not that difficult.
- danielmarkbruce 4y ago
  People have a flat earth understanding of many topics because they are complex and take a lot of work to understand. It would be nice if everyone understood the basics of human biology and health care - but it's incredibly complex. I'm a health care flat earther.... I might always be. Understanding the legal system would likely be more helpful to most than the financial system. But again, takes lot of work to get there. For most people, this stuff doesn't matter.
  - college_physics 4y ago
    Still, for many complex topics the standard curriculum would at least try: there is plenty of biology, chemistry, physics and math on offer. While for many people unfortunately this material flies over their head (a different topic), there is a reasonable fraction that gets comfortable and can contribute to the public debate when needed (think eg vaccines) The contrast with money is that it affects literaly everybody and everyday, but far fewer people have a grasp of the basics. btw, this became very obvious with the whole cryptocurrency phenomenon which for the first time exposed this gap (it also prompted some central banks to start explaining) The legal angle is very important too. People have maybe an intuitive understanding of rights and obligations linked to contracts, but understanding legal entities and the role of corporations is very limited. Ultimately the objective is not to make everybody an expert on these specialized domains, but have enough informed citizens so that they participate in debates, influence policy decisions etc instead of being at the mercy of insiders
    - danielmarkbruce 4y ago
      Not trying to be argumentative, but, what would the result be? Ie, let's say citizens were informed enough on the banking/financial system - what would be different?

abigail95 4y ago

I don't know where you live but I learned fractional reserve and central banking in elementary school.

danielmarkbruce 4y ago

Except there isn't agreement on the definition of "money" (because it's more complex than it seems on the surface), and there isn't agreement on how it works.

college_physics 4y ago
Agreed, but the point of (good) education is not inject revealed truth but train people to think. The different "definitions" are in reality different social contracts so there is nothing to agree on (but one can question which types are more appropriate for what type of economy etc).
- danielmarkbruce 4y ago
  Maybe, but this isn't elementary school stuff. It's complicated. To really understand it requires some knowledge of law, business, finance, human psychology, math and history. There is a good reason it's so misunderstood.
  - college_physics 4y ago
    Elementary school was mostly a figure of speech. It should really be an ongoing learning track, starting as early as possible. I think in gamified and simplified form one can definitely setup trading games and the like and "get them while they are young". Later adapted to the cognitive abilities of each level. Content is not strictly just about monetery systems: a number of other core concepts from economics and law / contracts in particular. The bottom line is that modern society is absolutely obsessed with money and knows practically nothing about it. Not a good combination.
    - danielmarkbruce 4y ago
      Fair points.