| I think it would be great if my gov't was designed for financial discipline, but I don't know how such a design would work. Should one running for any public position that authorizes spending be required to release their credit report to the public? Do you think the huge US debt has put the gov't under too much control by underwriters? Perhaps it's a subtle control kept out of public eye? Of course, a lot of it is finances by the public when we buy savings bonds and such, but I'm guessing there are some bigger financiers that are more directly involved.
When I was going through public school, there wasn't anything on personal finances in the curriculum. I think it should be something taught as a math course at elementary school after the basic operations are taught. They should also teach time management in elementary school and students should be using organisers by the time they get to high school. If I had learned these basic things at that age, I would have been much better off later on. When people reach the age where they can earn wages, they tend to lack the knowledge an discipline on how to budget the income. So bad habits start from the beginning.
Are curriculums any better now? I don't see it. Maybe private schools are doing better in this area. I know parents should be filling in the gaps left by the school system, but a lot of parents don't have the knowledge or discipline themselves.
But maybe we're getting too far off topic. The main thing I wanted to explore here are philosophies of financial wisdom. Maybe we should bring up the social issues in another thread? |