I thought this might make a fun follow-up on my post on 8th grade algebra. Over at jabberwocking.com, Kevin Drum discusses a proposal to make a semester of financial literacy a high school graduation requirement. He feels that this would fill a much-needed gap:“There are no long-term tests of financial literacy that I can locate, and overall financial indicators aren’t flashing any red lights. Over the past few decades, both mortgage delinquency and credit card delinquency are down. Retirement accounts are up. Installment loan balances are down. Foreclosures and bankruptcies are down. Savings are up. Overdrafts are down.”Drum addresses the trend lines. That tells you where we are relative to where we were, but are the current levels of these metrics
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Joel Eissenberg considers the following as important: Education, financial literacy, high school curriculum, home economics, US EConomics
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“There are no long-term tests of financial literacy that I can locate, and overall financial indicators aren’t flashing any red lights. Over the past few decades, both mortgage delinquency and credit card delinquency are down. Retirement accounts are up. Installment loan balances are down. Foreclosures and bankruptcies are down. Savings are up. Overdrafts are down.”
Drum addresses the trend lines. That tells you where we are relative to where we were, but are the current levels of these metrics acceptable? What are our goals for each of these metrics? And what about student loans, which didn’t make his list?
Discuss.