PREMIUM SEARCH Search by job title, geography and build a list of executive contacts
If you think high school economics is boring, you haven't been to the classroom of Richard Rankin, who teaches the dismal science to high school students at the Iolani School in Honolulu, Hawaii. In Rankin's stand-alone courses on economics, money management, and investing, students act as economic advisers to past U.S. Presidents Franklin D.
Roosevelt, Richard M. Nixon, and Ronald Reagan. Others invest fake money in the stock market, but do real number-crunching like calculating price-earnings ratios. They dig for data on specific sectors and size up companies' competition.
Rankin's in-depth and innovative curriculum hasn't gone unnoticed. Last month, the 54-year-old teacher was named the 2001 Grand Winner of Nasdaq National Teaching Awards, sponsored by the Nasdaq Educational Foundation and the National Council on Economic Education. His "Briefing of the President" project beat out hundreds of other programs. Rankin is a standout in a time when only a third of U.S. states require high school students to learn some economics, and only seven states mandate some personal-finance education.
Recently, Rankin talked with BusinessWeek Online's Heesun Wee about why it matters to teach young people about economics and personal finance. He also touched on the pitfalls of offering stock tips and knowing when you've selected the right stock: "You get that warm, fuzzy feeling in your stomach," he says. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation:
Q: First of all, congratulations on your award. Tell me about it.
A: I tried to find a project that would encompass all of the things that I try to teach in the class -- principles of economics, both micro and macro. But I also try to teach them something about public speaking. And I try to build teamwork and leadership.
So I just brainstormed and thought, "Let's develop a project where they're going to brief the President of the U.S." We recreate the Oval Office too -- our [school] amphitheater. I wear masks of the Presidents. I study their mannerisms.
Q: That's fantastic.
A: Yes. I've selected [Franklin D.] Roosevelt, [Richard] Nixon, and [Ronald] Reagan. The reasons...there was the Depression during Roosevelt's term. I selected Nixon because we had rampant inflation during that time. He tried wage-and-price controls. And then I chose Reagan because, finally, we had both unemployment and inflation.
The students examine all the alternatives, and finally tell the
President what he should do. And then you can't just do that out of context. You've got to tell me, 'Hey. Will this really work
politically?'
Q: Why was role-playing important to this project?
A: The kids are less nervous when they're playing somebody else. And when you have to know what Alan Greenspan would say, then you have a pretty good idea of what he stands for. I think it just facilitates
better learning.
Q: Do any girls get to play the President?
A: I am always the President.
Q: You're the big man?
A: I'm the main man. I have the masks.
Q: You teach Advanced Placement economics. Do you feel your advanced students' knowledge of economics is the norm among teenagers today?
A: No. They're way above the norm. In fact, one of the things I believe in strongly is promoting economics education. The students I'm concerned about are those in high school, [for whom] that's the end of the road. They will not have had any economics. It's just a shame we send our young folks out there to survive in this economic world they know very little about.
Q: There's quite a lot of evidence suggesting students' knowledge of basic economics and lifelong money management skills are falling. Why do you think that's the case?
A: I really was not aware it was falling. From my perspective, I see an increased interest in money management topics. In fact, my Advanced Placement economics class has grown 50%.
I also teach a course called money management & investments, and that has grown. And I can't teach it all myself. So they hired another instructor to teach that. So, from our perspective, the kids are interested.
Q: For those kids who may be on the fence about trying to learn economics and money management, how do you get those students interested?
A: I speak to all of the potential candidates for our classes and give a speech on the importance of understanding money management and investments. And I kind of couch it in terms of, "If any of you folks want to be wealthy, you have to know something about investments."
We have to work on the supply side, too, if you will. I have a feeling that the demand for these courses is there. But they're often not offered. In our state, 60% of our families in Hawaii, at some point or another, abuse credit and have to get credit counseling.
Q: You were in the Army for some 26 years, at one point
teaching economics at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Why did you decide to become a high school teacher?
A: I absolutely loved knowing the cadets inside and outside the classroom. So I said when I retired from the military, I wanted to do it again.
Q: Is the subject matter that much different?
A: I'm still teaching the basic principles of economics. Micro, macro, and a little bit of international. And I'll tell you another aspect to this. I know that Mrs. [Laura] Bush is interested in a project called Troops-to-Teachers. [The program helps retired military personnel begin second careers as public school teachers.] There's a great source of teachers -- retiring military.
Q: You also teach a course in money management & investing at the high school. Are a lot of your students invested in the stock market?
A: Some. I would say maybe 15%. But all of my students participate in a market simulation. I give them a fictitious amount of money and they have to try to make that grow. I teach them how to buy and sell a car. I teach them how to invest in the stock market. And then they make those decisions throughout the simulation.
And then whoever accumulates the most wealth, the top 10% receives a 5% increase in their grade. You know it's 3:30 a.m. in Hawaii when the U.S. market opens. And I'm telling you, they're up that early trading.
Q: Do your students ask you for stock tips or advice?
A: I play the role of the discount broker. I charge them a commission to buy and sell. But I refrain from giving them advice. I want them to do the research.
I teach them to learn enough about the company until you get what's called 'a warm, fuzzy feeling.' I can't describe it exactly. But when you get that warm, fuzzy feeling in your stomach, you know you've got the right stock. And that's by doing the research. Find the price-to-earnings ratios, what the industry is doing, what the company is doing, etc.
The other reason I don't give advice is having given advice in the past, even to my brother, has backfired big-time. So I just try to teach principles and not specific advice on stocks.
Q: Do you think we've reached the bottom with the markets?
A: Yeah, I do. I don't think we're going to see any wild dances. As an economist, I think the underlying economy is fine. The productivity figures are good. The unemployment figures are good. And that's why, frankly, you can't look for Greenspan to be responding to what the markets are demanding.
I also think everybody needs to learn you're not going to see the kind of money you've made in the recent years. It's going to be slower, more painstaking. I think people are going to do more long-term investing rather than short-term. The day traders I think are going to lose popularity.
Q: Do you have any plans for your cash award of $25,000?
A: I'm going to donate some to my school. I'm going to donate some to the Council on Economic Education here in Hawaii. And I'm definitely donating some to my wife because my wife was the one who made me do this. I'm not the kind of guy who likes to sit down and document stuff.
Q: Final question: What's next?
A: I've been doing the full Briefing of the President for three years now. I used to do fictitious countries so I could get just the economic data I wanted to work with. Then I researched and used real-life economic data because then you're mixing history into economics and that gets the historians interested.
Next year, I'm thinking of expanding and doing some international. Why not look at Japan and have Brief the Prime Minister of Japan? Or Korea or Germany? That might be a leap forward.
Edited by Douglas Harbrecht
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Copyright 2001, Bloomberg L.P.
Printer-Friendly Version
