Academic economic theories are damaging in the real world

Nwo Report

Nov 28

Posted BY: Ray McCoy

Recently, the Columbus Dispatch published an op-ed by Musbah Shaheen, a Ph.D. candidate in educational studies from Ohio State. Shaheen classifies as "brainwashing" Ohio's recent legislative initiative to mandate financial literacy classes that teach free market principles. Shaheen's op-ed, though, is useful only insofar as it exposes the anti-economic nonsense coming from academia—a type of nonsense that has bled into federal policies with disastrous effects for the American economy.

The Ohio law against which Shaheen inveighs is simply: Public education should instruct students in free market capitalism. Shaheen's problem is that his opposition is replete with errors and strawmen.

An obvious strawman is Shaheen's insistence that teaching economic reality means "No talking about race or slavery or gender or sexuality. No talking about what socialism—or even communism—mean [sic]." The contrary is true: Those of us that went to Ohio public schools did learn about slavery, segregation, the Civil Rights movement, and other racial issues. The difference then was that educators did not try to inflict guilt on certain students because of their racial background and associated privileges.