Effects of Problem Based Economics on high school economics instruction

For decades, economists, prominent educators, Nobel laureates, and business and government leaders have advocated for economic literacy as an essential component in school curricula. Their arguments have ranged from the need to improve people’s ability to manage personal finances to the value of economic education for critical thinking and an informed citizenry. To cite one example, Nobel laureate and Yale economist James Tobin argued in a July 9, 1986, Wall Street Journal column: “The case for economic literacy is obvious. High school graduates will be making economic choices all their lives, as breadwinners and consumers, and as citizens and voters. A wide range of people will be bombarded with economic information and misinformation for their entire lives. They will need some capacity for critical judgment. They will need it whether or not they go to college” (Tobin as quoted in Walstad 2007).