Thomas,
I'm not sure that we disagree regarding young children: as I said, my remarks are intended to apply primarily to 10+ year olds.
Some benefits of learning economics earlier (e.g. in middle/high school) rather than later (e.g. college) are that
- Intellectual sophistication compounds over time (with insights opening the doors to insights that depend on them, which in turn open the doors to insights that depend on them, etc.)
- Knowledge of economics is relevant to making a good career choice (e.g. recognizing what career paths have the highest social value) and by the time one is a freshman in college, one may already have made decisions (such as what to major in) that are difficult to change and that affect one's career prospects.
- If one learns earlier, one is better equipped to impress senior people (e.g. college professors).
I'd be very interested in feedback on our
economics reading recommendations. I think that they're good choices for gifted high school students, but would appreciate pushback, because we're trying to make the best possible recommendations (both with respect to subjects to learn and with respect to the best resources to learn from).
