Review: Economics for Everybody

When Laura was a senior in high school I wanted her to take an economics course. Math is not her strong suit, so she didn’t do the math portion of a typical economics course. However, we did read several books on the subject together, so she would have a basic understanding of how economics works.

During Rebecca’s senior year we participated in a homeschool co-op. Economics was one of the courses offered at the co-op that year. Rebecca didn’t take the course, but I was able to sit in on several sessions by signing up to be the teaching assistant. Since there were only 2 students in the class, the teacher didn’t really need assistance but I was fascinated with the materials she was teaching from. It was a Bible-based economics course from R.C. Sproul, Jr. with an audio component. We listened to the audio during class, then the students had assignments to work on outside of class time. I learned a lot, even though I had read the other economics books with Laura previously.

Being somewhat familiar with that course I was happy to have the opportunity to review the Economics for Everybody DVD course this past fall. Timberdoodle sent me a copy in exchange for my review. It seems to be pretty much the same material I sat in on at co-op but in a very engaging video format.

The set we received comes with 2 discs and a study guide, and covers 12 lessons. The video sessions range from 15 to 27 minutes.

The video footage of R. C. Sproul lecturing is interspersed with a variety of clips to illustrate the principles he talks about. Some of it is heart-rending (images of poverty) and some is humorous (from old movies), but it definitely kept our attention. With that format, Rebecca was able to get a lot more out of it than she would have if we had done read-alouds or an audiobook. Lyle and I appreciated the Christian worldview which helped give us a better understanding of the society we live in. It is aptly named “Economics for Everybody” because we all got something out of it without having to have an in-depth understanding of math or government.

I would definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a high school economics elective, or even if you would just like to have a better understanding of economics principles.