How I Teach Economics to High Schoolers

Gary North, August 28, 2014

Most economists assign a textbook. I do, too: Bob Murphy’s. I also assign his teacher’s study guide. Both are free to download. I described this here.

http://teapartyeconomist.com/2014/08/23/video-teach-economics-teenager/Because his textbook covers the textbook version of economics, this frees me up to try to grab the student’s attention. I do screencasts that I hope will apply the textbook’s theoretical information to the real world — the teenager’s real world.

Here is an example. In the first section, I cover the laws governing the legal system, economic theory, and the free market. I do this at the end of every week. I don’t want them to forget. This is 45 words per week, over and over. After 36 weeks, they may remember them.

Then I review the previous week’s lessons. In the Ron Paul Curriculum, the fifth day — Friday — is for review. It is also for writing a 100-word essay. There is no reading assignment. Students learn how to write. Parents can monitor their progress in writing in at least three courses. The essays provide evidence of the student’s progress for state authorities. The students will be able to look back and see how much they have improved.

In week 4, I covered jobs that students might get. I explained each job in terms of market analysis. My assumption: they will pay more attention if the topics are of practical interest to them. They can see the economic principles in action.

Here, I go over the highlights of the four daily lessons.

EMBED VIDEO HERE (not YouTube)