Do We Believe Yet?

After 10 years of preaching (or screaching depending on your prespective), it really stikes me these days how financial education is being promoted as essential for Americans to survive in the current economic climate. Chairman Ben Bernake said that we need to sharpen our financial skills - especially in the current economic crisis. Here's a recap of what he said today: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30308921/


See, I actually believe that financial literacy is essential regardless of the economic climate. And, I think I have made the point in the past that financial education, though most likely would not have prevented this crisis, it certainly would have made it a tad bit softer. Which is why we continue to fight the fight to have personal finance a required course in schools.

Only 3 states in the United States have this requirement. Do we believe yet that the time has come? I actually think we may lose ground on this front. I'm reading all kinds of articles about school districts having to cut back on teaching staffs in order to meet budget requirements. Federal and state mandates restrict what teachers can do in the classroom. I get the circular - chicken vs. egg argument - but when do we reach the point when we as parents say that preparing our children to be financially savvy is better for them then knowing how to calculate a quadratic equation?