In India, at the secondary school level, all courses are compulsory including natural sciences and social sciences. Economics is taught as part of the compulsory social science course. The syllabus is good enough. But the level of competition for admission to the competitive courses is so high, the students are mostly focused on their core interest areas. 

In India, at the secondary school level, all courses are compulsory including natural sciences and social sciences. Economics is taught as part of the compulsory social science course. The syllabus is good enough. But the level of competition for admission to the competitive courses is so high, the students are mostly focused on their core interest areas. 

Germany is a federal republic. Education is a Laender (i.e. states/provinces) matter; There are only few private schools. At school, there is some choice of subjects, especially after grade ten, natural science and mathematics are compulsory for most of the students up to the end. Some economics is taught within courses of social sciences. Wirtschaftesgymnasien (plural of Wirtschaftsgymnasium) lay emphasis on economics. Economics at the university level requires sound knowledge of mathematics and common sense, Students finding that too demanding change to other subjects. As for the last question, whether students have enough knowledge to make decisions: The aim of teching econmics is to put students in a position to analyse probems, work out solutions and make sound judgements, because  life is more comples than textbook scenarios, Having taught economics for a long time, I can say that those who finished their Diplom-Volkswirt (MA economics) were well prepared to do so. We have been following the BA/MA system since a few years only, but I would expect a similar answer.

Dear Wolfgang-Peter, I appreciate your thorough answer. My question aims at the level of knowledge of non-specialists - I would count Diplom-Volkswirt and Diplom-Betriebswirt (I think this exists as well) as specialists. 

The idea of Wirtschaftsgymnasien as high schools focusing on economical subjects is quite interesting. I'm wondering whether there are any comparable structures in other countries?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirtschaftsgymnasium

Partially, yes, dear Michael. But but I'm not sure that little suffices!

Typical courses in high school:

Macroeconomics

This course is the equivalent of an introductory college-level course. Students learn why and how the world economy can change from month to month, how to identify trends in our economy, and how to use those trends to develop performance measures and predictors of economic growth or decline. Students also examine how individuals and institutions are influenced by employment rates, government spending, inflation, taxes, and production. Students prepare for the AP Exam and for further study in business, political science, and history.

Microeconomics

This course is the equivalent of an introductory college-level course. Students explore the behavior of individuals and businesses as they exchange goods and services in the marketplace. Students learn why the same product can cost different amounts at different stores, in different cities, and at different times. Students also learn to spot patterns in economic behavior and how to use those patterns to explain buyer and seller behavior under various conditions. Lessons promote an understanding of the nature and function of markets, the role of scarcity and competition, the influence of factors such as interest rates on business decisions, and the role of government in the economy. Students prepare for the AP Exam and for further study in business, history, and political science.

Standards will be based on a number of factors that will be continuously revised.

https://www.aeaweb.org/gradstudents/Education_Issues.php

At the high schools in our country, there were 2 courses in 11th grade & 12th grade classes & they were entitled  "Administration & Economics". The 12th grade course was cancelled for scientific & art streams but was kept for the commercial stream. Therefore, generally our students have little knowledge of economics before joining the universities.

Dear all, international comparisons tend to be tricky. It starts with finding proper translations. Checking Linguee I found a string of translations of Wirtschaftsgymnasium into English that I would not approve.

The following article by R. Srinivasan I found helpful.

http://www.academia.edu/1924547/Should_We_Teach_Economics_in_Schools

The list of recommended contents for teaching economics at US high schools is long, but I do not know what it would mean in praactice (why does Human Capital appear under Personal Finance Economics?)

http://www.econlib.org/library/Topics/HighSchool/HighSchoolTopics.html

The question, how many students finishing high school know how much and what economics in different countries is a very important one, indeed. Are you writing a paper or thesis on the matter?

Economics, as an entity in itself, is not usually taught in high schools in Singapore or Canada, but there is a Financial Literacy education program that is embedded in subjects like Social Studies, Mathematics, Principles of Accounts, Basic Business Studies in the high school curriculum and perhaps even in higher elementary levels.

In India, I studied Economics in Grades 11 and 12, but it was an elective subject and not part of the essential/compulsory syllabi. Personally I had no inkling of money matters, and still have limited knowledge of it, primarily due to a lack of personal interest. But it certainly does help to have cognizance of how economies works, especially in the context of an ever-growing economic interdependence in global societies. 

Yes, economics is being taught in high schools and colleges in Serbia. Regarding engineering schools, economics, organization and management is a MUST!

Students ,after high-school, do not know enough, they are not able to assess current developments and make valuable decisions! Curricula must be changed and improved!

Dear Michael, 

Economics is offered in high schools in New Zealand. The content is not as the same level as first year university economics courses but still relevant and useful. (I have taught Economics at the university level.) The high school Economics course is not always compulsory but many students tend to take it even if it is not compulsory in their school. In the link below, you can see what is covered in such a course. I agree with the others in this forum; a basic economics and/or personal financial management course would be very good for teenagers graduating from high school because they need to become responsible adults in real life, and will also be eligible to vote in elections soon so they need to be able to understand local and international issues and policies. 

Emre 

Dr. E 

http://seniorsecondary.tki.org.nz/Social-sciences/Economics

In my country, we have many government and few private high schools. But all have to follow same curriculum. Those who study science at high schools, they do not need to take economics course, and so they do not have even basics of economics know how. Those who take arts at high schools, for them economics compulsory.

Study economics is based on sound background in mathematics and statistics at university levels.

Yes the field of Economics is taught in our schools, but I have doubts about the main philosophy of Economics:

You see life is not necessary an optimization process and if we adopt such a philosophy we will end up to crimes against humanity.

It is a large topic, I don't know if this question is the best palce for such a discussion.

Demetris, I fully understand your doubts. It would be great to hear what is actually taught as the objectives of economics in various social environments. As an example, do students in Greece after having successfully finished high-school understand the negative impact of fallaki - can we have hope, at least, in this case?

Following Demetris, I should add that "economics" as there taught in, say, North American universities, create rather a confusion that a clear picture. You can see two Nobel economists, one of them saying "black" and the other "white". The problem is that economists appliy classical mathematics on a non-classical field. What they are need is non-classical mathematics. It is a good thing that they do not teach this kind of economics in hight schools for example!

Dear All,

Economy is taught almost at each higher education institution. Even economy teaching became one of the star specialisation of students. The number of economy colleges and various schools and courses is innumerable in Hungary. Unfortunately, the standard of many of them is questionable.

I was glad reading Kamal’s comment on medical economy. Regarding my experiences with physicians, their economic and mathematic knowledge standards belong to the weakest ones. I can accept this because their task and practice must focus other scientific areas.

Enormous amounts are invested into the teaching and researching of economy however I as a non-professional cannot see the contribution of economy to human welfare. Can anybody prove the contrary of it?

Dear All,

I used to say economy is the special niche mankind created during history and changed totally the human relationship to nature. The results can be seen:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

http://worldcentric.org/conscious-living/environmental-destruction

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/nature-environment/the-environment?media_filter[]=702&level_filter=&duration_filter=&sort_by=date&per_page=50&gclid=CNHAh7H12MACFdSWtAodG1IAOA#toggle_filter_options&LKCAMPAIGN=Google_grant_Envir&MEDIA=oltry

Michael, the objectives of Economics are the same in all around the world, since the same books are the text-books for any level. What is the essence of Economics? An optimization process that leads to an equilibrium state, without any kind of experimental prove: You have to follow this policy (example: austerity) in order to maximize that objective function etc. As Costas correctly wrote, Economics are based on standard models while they are trying to explain non standard behaviors...

PS What do you mean by 'fallaki'?

Demetris, I meant fakelaki, sorry. 

Apart from economical theories people need practical knowledge, e.g. about the work of rating agencies and financial risks of shares etc. From the discussion so far I haven't got the feeling that this kind of knowledge is actually taught at schools.

Dear Michael, as an example, do students in Germany after having successfully finished high-school understand the negative impact of bribing foreign countries officials in order to get a contract (aka Siemens) - can we have a hope, at least, in this case?

The importance of this question by dear Michael Bruckner may be underestimated but I have witnessed cases in which there were huge losses due to the lack of knowledge in economy. In 1989 ,there was a university graduate (who was good in his specialization but ignorant in economics). He lost half of his fortune (about 300000 dollars) due to the devaluation of the local currency (in which he trusted despite the fact that it has no support  in terms of gold or goods or strong economy). 

This perhaps would be heavily dependent on what is the role of schools .. In India, mostly schools are like a necessary step for entering college and as some have pointed out - eventually compete for jobs in multinational companies. Most students only think of Engineering or Management because that is what drives most of the Indian economy. Interestingly, very few take economics in school at a level which helps them understand why they are rushing to Engineering. That I guess depends partly because teachers in schools are of quite a low standard in most states. I don't know whether that might also be true in other developed countries like US; but as far as India goes, most social science and humanities subjects go down because there is no market for it and hence spiral down to mediocracy. The good part is books like Freakonomics can fill up the void as many teenagers might pick it up although it might not be accepted in curriculum. 

I am not specialist in economics or economic sciences learning, but as an organizer of adult learning i see great interest for economic studies among adult professionals. So i may make an assumption that economic studies in high school are not relevant or economic situation changes so rapidly, that the need for studies in the field is very popular.

Dear Demetris, your example points it out quite nicely. The demand for favours leads to their provision. As citizens in corrupt societies are demanded to pay for officials' work, so are companies - and they have done it. Siemens can't afford it anymore, others can.

In our Lyceum students learn Economy. It is taught by highly qualified teachers. It was period, when only professors from the University were their teachers.Our students passed exams on Economy. there were a lot of American professors, who made up projects and presentations with our students. We celebrated "The Day of the best project on Economy"Our students defensed their projects, and the jury chose the best.Our students learn the biography and "invisible hand of market" of the founder of modern economical theory Adam Smith in English.  

I really agree  that economy is importante for students and society. I know that

here in Brazil, we have pretty good colleges  and researches in economy, but at the primary school ,  children do not have formal lessons. Perhaps  they have some of economy like social indicators and something about wealthy regions. It is not enough to know about economy and trading and selling etc.