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Twenty years ago, I was lucky enough to attend a high school that offered Advanced Placement economics, consisting of semester-long courses in microeconomics, the study of individual economic decisions, and macroeconomics, the effect of large-scale economic actions. I didn’t know much about economics, but it struck me as an opportunity to gain some more practical skills. I (incorrectly) assumed an economics class would teach me about the stock market and how to balance a checkbook. I figured that knowledge was worth the cost to my sleep; the class was only offered as an “early bird” and started at 7:10 a.m., 40 minutes before the official start of the school day.  I have never been a morning person, so losing that hour of sleep was a big sacrifice. I had unknowingly just had my first lesson in opportunity cost.
I quickly learned that economics is not simply a catch-all term for anything related to money. Instead, I realized, it involves a significant focus on theory, principles and models. I found myself struggling to keep up, particularly with microeconomics. After a few weeks, scoring well enough on the end-of-year Advanced Placement tests to qualify for college credit felt like more and more of a pipedream.
But my teacher was committed. She regularly made herself available after school to review each unit and would open her classroom to study groups over lunch so that she could be on hand to answer questions we couldn’t seem to muddle through ourselves. 
It was actually her first year teaching; she spent the first couple of decades of her career at a Fortune 100 company. But the kicker was, she had no idea she’d be teaching economics, let alone AP economics, when they offered her a job in the social studies department. She believed she’d be covering history or civics classes, but the powers that be determined that her experience in the corporate world made economics the right fit. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who conflated the study of business with economics. 
She essentially spent the entire year only two chapters ahead of her students, getting herself up to speed, all while going above and beyond for her students. And when it came time for Advanced Placement exams, every single student scored high enough to earn college credit, something that had never happened during the previous 12 years the school offered the class. Cue the theme from “Rudy. [ [link removed] ]”
A few years later, I was in college and trying to settle on a major. I had initially planned to study political science and history, but after a couple semesters, I discovered my school offered a cross-disciplinary degree called political economy. The degree was made up of economics, history and political science courses, and my Advanced Placement score meant that I had already completed two of six required econ classes. Switching to the political economy major also gave me room to pick up a second major in speech communications. I was sold.
While a lot of the technical modeling remained challenging for me, my new major gave me the opportunity to explore the philosophical underpinnings of economics and introduced me to the writings of Frédéric Bastiat, Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. My courses moved beyond the theoretical and dug into very real outcomes of various economic policies that had been applied throughout history. Concepts that I once struggled to stay awake for at 7:10 in the morning were now energizing me, spilling into dorm room debates with friends. Without the opportunity to study economics in high school, I never would have considered going beyond an introductory course in college. 
All of this helped set me on my current career path, leading the communications team for an economic research center. Throughout my time at Mercatus, I have always appreciated the organization’s commitment to remaining dynamic and keeping an eye out for new opportunities. Paying attention to market signals, if you will. And over the last five years, we’ve seen a real need to expand opportunities for economic education to high school students. Being able to take an economics class as a high schooler changed the course of my career, and I know it can do that for many others today.
According to the Council for Economic Education’s 2024 Survey of the States [ [link removed] ], 28 states now require students to take a course in economics to graduate high school. While it thrills me that more students will be introduced to a field that I love, I’ve also seen firsthand how much work creating these courses require, especially if the teacher is new to teaching economics. So it’s been particularly rewarding for me to see the success of my colleagues at Marginal Revolution University [ [link removed] ] (MRU), a free, education-focused project at Mercatus. MRU began as an online economic education platform in 2012, initially offering a course on development economics. Over the years, MRU received more and more requests from high school teachers looking for high-quality teaching resources. Today, MRU teaching resources—lesson plans, videos and other educational tools—are used in more than 2,600 high schools across the country. MRU also offers more than 50 teacher trainings each year, including ones in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the College Board.
In addition to MRU, Mercatus has expanded its graduate and undergraduate fellowship model to include a cohort for high school students [ [link removed] ]. And the Emergent Ventures [ [link removed] ] program has supported dozens of students interested in learning more about economics and testing their concepts in the marketplace.
Obviously, economics won’t be for everyone. Despite how much I love it, working at an economic research center isn’t everyone’s dream job. But as we get older, we’re encouraged to narrow our interests and our focus. High school economics taught by a passionate teacher gave me the opportunity to expand my world view. My hope is that my role at Mercatus helps to advance educational opportunities that will do the same for others.
Meanwhile ...
What I’m watching: If you read my last column [ [link removed] ], you won’t be surprised to learn I’m looking forward to the Academy Awards tonight. Of this year’s nominees for Best Picture, I’d particularly recommend “American Fiction [ [link removed] ].” Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown were both nominated for their performances in a film that was funny, poignant and meticulous. One of my favorite details comes from a scene with three characters eating lunch together in a conference room, each with a different type of water. Each character’s specific brand of water acts as a shorthand for the audience about who these people are. This is the first film from writer/director Cord Jefferson [ [link removed] ], and I’m excited to see what he does next.
Thanks for welcoming me back to Discourse, and if you’re interested in learning more about MRU or our fellowship opportunities, please don’t hesitate to reach out [ mailto:[email protected] ].
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