Economics 101 - For the High School Graduate

Published in the Allentown Morning Call and the Lehighton Times News, June 2008

One of the most peculiar things about teaching is when students ask, “What is something good I can do with my life?”

 For those students in need of a compass, I advise you to use simple economic principles as your guide:

 ·        Supply & Demand: The most basic principle of economics revolves around this term. Job markets that are in huge demand – health services, mathematics, accounting, engineering, scientific research, etc. – all pay well because there aren’t enough people to supply the markets.

 ·        Trades make every one better off: Too many high school students enroll in college because it seems like a good idea. However, some people should not be sitting in more classes – and accruing an average debt of $22,000 – when they could be learning a trade or pursuing a quick, hands-on degree such as dental hygienist.

 ·        Elasticity: People who are flexible tend to roll with the market well. If you decide to pursue a college degree, make yourself well-rounded. A friend of mine recently graduated with degrees in both special and elementary education. That doesn’t just double his chances of getting a job, it quadruples them.

 ·        Maximize resources: Prior to the 1990s, as butchers spilt up parts of the chicken they tossed the chicken wings. But with a little entrepreneurialism, that same chicken wing that was once garbage quickly became valuable. The world around us is in desperate need of people who can turn ordinary resources into extraordinary investments.

 ·        There is no such thing as a free lunch: If you think you’re in for an easy way to make money – many often point to law on this one – you couldn’t be more wrong. The LSAT is the most difficult standardized test in the world, and the three years you might spend in law school will be the most intense you will ever experience.

 ·        Risk & rewards: If you’re planning on making millions, you’re going to put yourself out there in the face of failure. Under Armour founder Kevin Plank maxed out every credit card he had to make his water-wicking material, but was rewarded big because he risked big. More young Americans need to make big – and intelligent – risks. Imagine if you’re the entrepreneur to replace oil.

 ·        All choices involve opportunity costs: If you invest $2,000 annually into a mutual loan with 10% returns for 20 years, you’ll be a millionaire by the time you retire. Think about that the next time you ask for the sticker price on a Mustang.

 ·        Pay attention to the bottom line: Sure, you need to find a career that will make you happy, but you don’t want to be living paycheck-to-paycheck. Look for jobs that pay well, and pursue at least one of them.

 Class of 2008, I wish you much success. May the torch of simple economics be your guide to unearthing it.

Proactive in our Preparation: Prosperity, Politics, & Pupils

June 15, 2007

Copyright, Jake Miller

At Panther Valley’s commencement, Jen Yurick, the class president, spoke about how high school prepared her and her classmates for what the future may bring; a knoll bell before each of them independently enter the world. I could not help but to examine exactly what teachers, parents, and family members prepare these neophytes for, and upon inspection, I realized we prepare them to be proactive.

In 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey identifies the first trait of a success is being proactive. He believes people should “act before a situation becomes a source of confrontation or crisis.” We try to instill this quality in our children – whether teaching about underage drinking or preparing them for a career – and continuously monitor the progress.

Yet it is hard to establish this connection to the subject I teach (American Government), where being proactive is impossible if not cataclysmic. And to be proactive about government is like being Tony Soprano at a Bath & Body Works. It just doesn’t seem to fit.

Yet there are a few things our nation should seriously be proactive about:

• The first is our health (ahem, sick) care system. With rates climbing annually, many employers and employees have hit the panic button on health care. Some politicians have responded by lauding social medicine, some by saying benefits should be slashed. What if we proactively got to the root of the problem, rewarding people for living a healthy lifestyle, full of activity and free of the junk we ingest?
• And what if we made it fun to digest the knowledge one obtains at school? We could stop punishing students for truancy and reprimanding them for doing poorly on standardized tests. America could make school entertaining and educational, while effectively preparing its students for what the global economy will bring.
• We could also teach our children to take care of this earth they will inhabit, lessening the impact they make on our globe. They can be taught that our world has limited resources, and unless we efficiently use them, they will soon disappear with no apparent alternative.
• Americans can also explore the roots of cultural conflict, whether terrorism abroad or immigration at home stems from the rights to these limited resources and their (mis)management and distribution. What if we proactively handled this situation by absolutely destroying the inequality that exists between the “haves” and “have-nots” in the Middle East and other terrorist zones, and reined in that same disparity that separates Mexico and its destitution and America and its Dream.

Yet we lack the leadership to do these things because we don’t necessarily elect the strongest citizens to office, we elect the one’s who can collect the most money. And when elected, these Jeffersons stuff money in their freezer and the Neys receive private boats for defense contracts. What if we proactively tackled the problem and not only prevented earmarks and kickbacks to campaign donors, but freed our leaders from corporate kowtowing and earned more accountability for the community?

But the closest elected official you would be able to ask of being proactive about some of the issues is some one who has learned it, like Class President Jen Yurick. Our politicians sure can learn a thing or two about the world they are leaving to our children. And unless we can learn to act – proactively – we’ll have nothing left but the rhetoric of the speeches given at the commencement of our prosperity.