Teaching Economic Literacy: Why, What and How

Instructors typically design the first course in economics to provide students a foundation on which to base further study and, to that end, include many topics in the course. An alternative goal for the first course is to provide students with a self-contained opportunity to attain a deeper understanding and working knowledge of a short list of economics concepts. In this paper, I define economic literacy, explain why the first economics course should target economic literacy, provide suggestions as to which topics should be dropped from the literacy-targeted course, and explain how to use reclaimed class time to promote economic literacy.