By Carl Coates
September 29, 2025 — George J. Stigler’s article The Case, If Any, For Economic Literacy turned 55 this past spring. His assertions are nowhere close to retirement. In fact they remain vibrant and all too relevant for today’s economic educators. George Stigler, the 1982 Nobel Prize winner and University of Chicago economist, is known for contributing seminal ideas on regulatory capture and the power of special interest groups. In his writings, he also dabbled in the humorous, the historical, and, thankfully for the purposes here, the practical.
Though written a generation ago, Stigler’s article represents a through line to the efforts underway at UChicago’s Economics for Everyone (E4E) initiative. Developed and championed by UChicago economists, Economics for Everyone helps students understand the principles behind the models, so they can use economic reasoning to evaluate choices, think critically, and make informed decisions.
Economics Education: the challenges have not changed
Stigler’s essay, adapted from an address to the Wisconsin State Council for Economic Education, highlights the enduring connection between higher education and its foundational partners in K–12 schools. He emphasized the importance of economic literacy in helping individuals make better personal decisions—asking, “What arrangement of one’s limited means will lead to the most complete fulfillment of one’s goals?”—and in shaping informed citizens. As he put it, “It seems obvious that a citizen would be assisted in forming intelligent opinions on this flood of legislation if [s]he had some knowledge of economics.” Ultimately, Stigler concluded that due to the often partisan nature of expert advice, “it would appear that every American must be his (her) own economist.”
Stigler’s rationale provides an interesting framing for what we educators are ultimately doing: guiding our students to be their own economists. Economic educators work hard to convey the logic and key ideas of economics so that students can use them in their own lives–the ever present goal of “the transfer of knowledge”. The challenge of finding ways to help students think like economists is nothing new, nor limited to high school teachers and college instructors teaching introductory courses. Furthermore, one’s level of technical training in the field does not guarantee results. Stigler conveyed to those Wisconsin economics teachers in 1968 that, “many highly intelligent, highly trained professors of economics have only a remote or formal knowledge of economic logic, not as a theoretical construct but as a constantly applicable and deeply illuminating principle.”
Educating students to understand and use that economic logic as a set of “constantly applicable” principles is often more challenging than instructing the math, the curves and the processes that take up much of our curricula. If you have ever felt like your students know what and how to graph, say, costs of production, but you aren’t really convinced that they know what that graph means, you’re in good company. Math is part and parcel to the study of economics, but can be a barrier to entry (“wait, we have to graph this, too!”) or a crutch (“I calculated the area of the triangle which is deadweight loss, though I’m not sure what exactly that means”). Such math related teaching challenges can distract from more fundamental goals that fall under the umbrella of the “constantly applicable and deeply illuminating principle” that Stigler spoke of.
“…[T]he public will learn its economics from economists, or somebody else.”
What can educators do to keep logic and reasoning at the forefront of our efforts? Meeting this ever-present challenge is neither simple, nor easy. Putting a sticky-note in our brains to remember, “Concepts over Costs!” or “Applicability before Arithmetic!” might help us keep those transferable ideas at the forefront of our efforts. Take heart in knowing that the “economic we” —both primary and secondary teachers, and professors alike—face the same challenges in conveying the big ideas of this subject, challenges that Stigler affirmed decades ago.
As educators, we are not just teaching supply and demand; we are equipping students with tools to navigate a complex world. By prioritizing economic logic over rote calculation, and by fostering curiosity over compliance, we can help students experience those “A-ha!” moments that make economics truly transformative for students as individuals and citizens.
The case for economic literacy isn’t just still relevant—it’s urgent.
Carl Coates is Director of Educational Products and Outreach for the Economics for Everyone initiative in the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics at the University of Chicago. He brings over 25 years of classroom experience teaching AP, IB, and academic levels of high school economics. Dedicated to empowering teachers and students alike, Carl believes the power of economic reasoning lies in its ability to connect theory, research, and practical solutions to the societal challenges that future economists will face.