Educate your guests on economic realitiesEducate your guests on economic realities


If the economic downturn, Occupy Wall Street and the riots overseas have taught us anything, it’s that many people lack a basic understanding of core economic concepts. 
I’m not talking about the macroeconomic issues discussed in the pages of The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal. I’m talking about the basics, like government debt, business profit margins and personal credit ratings.


This shouldn’t surprise us. A 2010 study from economists at Dartmouth College, Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania found that less than one-third of young adults had basic knowledge of financial concepts such as interest rates and inflation.


While some school systems require students to take a personal finance class, most do not. A...