Use it or Lose it: Teaching Literacy in the Economics Principles Course

摘要

Americans know little about economics. Re- cent surveys document shocking gaps in under- standing of markets, macroeconomic policy, and the economics of government. Both the general public and college students, including economics course-takers, do poorly on ques- tions that check their knowledge. In a Gallup survey (William B. Walstad and Max Larsen, 1992), most knew that competitive Prices are determined by supply and demand. But 65 percent of the public and 43 percent of College seniors believed that during a crisis in The middle East "..... government should prohibit Oil companies from raising ...prices" (p.65).