Economics, the dismal science - Junior Achievement class

"How come rich people like Donald Trump get richer in a recession?", followed by "how come the government doesn't tell companies they have to charge less for their products so people who are struggling can pay their bills?" were two of the questions that came up today in the high school class where I am teaching Economics through Junior Achievement. I put on my screen saver face and formulated my answer in my head... but first a little aside.

I don't remember anyone explaining economics to me as a kid, at least not in a structured sort of way. Economics was taught in real-time, with instant feedback for wrong answers. If I wanted to purchase something, I wasn't able to go to the governing entity (my parents), and get a bail out (allowance). I had to come up with ideas on how to make money. This environment forced me to become an entrepreneur at an early age.

My first few businesses were started when I was around 9 or 10, and revolved around filling a need in our household. My older brother didn't want to feed the family dog, which was his job. So he paid me $1 a week. He also hated to put his clothes in the laundry, so I would load the hamper in return for any loose change in his pockets, or from the floor. This business soon grew into cleaning cars in our driveway, and getting to keep the change. After a time, the money was not so good, since it takes months for change to fall out of a pocket at a rate I could justify doing the work for, so I started charging for car washes. As the youngest of 9 kids, there were lots of cars in the driveway.

Tom Finnegan was a nice guy on our street who was friends with my father. Tom asked my dad if he could pay me to cut his grass, and my dad agreed. So at about 12 years old I started to cut grass, which grew into 40 lawns spread across Pompton Plains and Pequannock Township, and was my primary income until I was in my early twenties. During that time, I worked regular jobs, such as at a local nursery where I started out planting mums, and stayed on for a couple of years picking vegetables and working in the greenhouses.

When I started to work, my parents made me buy my own work clothes, such as jeans, work boots, and whatever I'd wear to work. They covered school and church clothes. When I turned 16, 1/3^rd of my income was taken to cover my home expenses, plus I covered my own work clothes costs. At 18, the third was capped at $20 a week, and if I didn't work, they ran me a tab.

We learned early about economics. So back to the class today. In one of the first classes I taught, I asked who had a job that paid money. About 25% of the students raised their hand. I then asked who received a weekly allowance from their parents, with no strings attached - meaning they just received it, no chores required. Over half of the hands went up. Things have changed since I was a kid, and it is bad.

So my answer to the questions at the start of this blog were real simple, and derived by asking questions of the students. First, smart people make money in a recession. Having money going into a recession allows you to purchase at a deep discount. So don't waste your money buying stuff in a good economy, at least not on credit. Cash is king in a recession. But this recession has not been an opportunity for everyone. By taking money from the taxpayers and using it to prop up poorly managed banks, the government artificially kept home prices high, eliminating the opportunity for the average person to take advantage of the cheaper homes in the recession. As low as the home prices are, they are still artificially high because the banks don't have to sell the homes the foreclose on, since they now have our money to keep their business running. So Donald Trump got rich because he is smart, not because he is rich.

I also asked who pays for employees' health insurance - "employers". Does the company consider the cost of health insurance when determining how much to pay an employee? - "yes". So who pays for health insurance? - "the employee". So is government forcing insurance good for small business? We'll leave it there...

We covered many topics, mostly around entrepreneurship, risk and reward, taxes (including hidden taxes), regulations, and how much a company must to do comply that costs them money and time, without revenue for them. My last comment was that I talk economics with many people, and few understand it in even a basic way. Learning economics will act as insurance against being poor. The market cycles, and they are in school in a down cycle, and knowing about cycles, and not getting into debt will give them a much better chance at a good life.

It is very fulfilling being involved with Junior Achievement. If you haven't been involved yet, you should contact your local school and see if they participate, and how you can help.