How Reliable Are Michigan High School Economics Textbooks?
A strong knowledge of sound economic principles is not only important in the
twenty-first century global marketplace, it is essential for the maintenance of a free
society. Are Michigan high school students being taught what they need to know in order to
succeed and prosper?
This review of 16 of the most commonly used economics textbooks in Michigan high
schools uses 12 criteria-including issues of trade, taxation, and the role of
government-to evaluate which texts are and are not effective at presenting students with a
balanced and accurate perspective on the modern market economy. Each text is graded, from
A to F, on its ability to clearly instruct students in the "economic way of
thinking."
An abridged 27-page written copy of the report may be ordered normally, or the full
reviews of each textbook may be downloaded at no charge via www.mackinac.org.
Contents
- Executive Summary
- Introduction: Misleading High School Students into the Twenty-First Century
- Methodology: Getting a Grip on the Problem
- Evaluation Criteria: Objectivity or Ideology?
- Criterion 1: Costs and Prices-How Production is Determined
- Criterion 2: Competition and Monopoly
- Criterion 3: Comparative Economic Systems
- Criterion 4: The Distribution of Income and Poverty
- Criterion 5: The Role of Government
- Criterion 6: Public Choice
- Criterion 7: The Role of the Entrepreneur
- Criterion 8: Taxation
- Criterion 9: The Business Cycle
- Criterion 10: Wages, Unions, and Unemployment
- Criterion 11: Trade
- Criterion 12: Money and Banking
- The Evaluations: What's Right and What's Wrong with Michigan High School Economics Textbooks
- Economics in Our Times
- Economics by Design
- Economics: Work and Prosperity
- Junior Achievement: Economics Student Text
- Economics (Worth Publishers)
- Economics: An Integrated Approach
- Principles of Economics
- Economics Today & Tomorrow
- Economics (South-Western)
- Introduction to Economics
- The Study of Economics: Principles, Concepts & Applications
- Economics: Institutions and Analysis
- Dollars and Sense: An Introduction to Economics
- Economics-Free Enterprise in Action
- Economics (Addison-Wesley)
- Applying Economic Principles
- Report Card: How Well Do Michigan High School Textbooks Present Economics?
- Complete Evaluations
- Economics in Our Times
- Economics by Design
- Economics: Work and Prosperity
- Junior Achievement: Economics Student Text
- Economics (Worth Publishers)
- Economics: An Integrated Approach
- Principles of Economics
- Economics Today & Tomorrow
- Economics (South-Western)
- Introduction to Economics
- The Study of Economics: Principles, Concepts & Applications
- Economics: Institutions and Analysis
- Dollars and Sense: An Introduction to Economics
- Economics-Free Enterprise in Action
- Economics (Addison-Wesley)
- Applying Economic Principles
