Times like these are why I believe a strong background in economics is so important for every American citizen.  This is why I love teaching economics.  Helping students understand what events like this mean–for themselves, their families, their communities, their country, and their planet–is what motivates me as an economics teacher.  If part of education is preparing students to live in the world outside school and be effective citizens, economic education is an important part of that preparation.  Today’s events prove just that.

I love connecting economics theories and ideas with current events, to let me students know how the information they are learning in my classroom pertains to life outside its walls.  When economics makes the news, as it sometimes does, students often ask about the meanings of all these stores, and rather than just tell them, I like to think I give them the tools to figure it out on their own.  Economics isn’t in the headlines often, so I will take advantage of it when it is.