December 16, 2009 2:48PM 

# Don’t You Mean Financial Illiteracy? 

By [Neal McCluskey](https://www.cato.org/people/neal-mccluskey) 

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According to a story out yesterday, the federal government is starting a new campaign to [promote financial literacy ](http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/12/obama-administration-seeks-to-improve-high-school-financial-literacy.html)among high school students. That’s right, *federal politicians*, who have given us [Fannie](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9557), [Freddie](https://www.cato.org/2009/03/24/americas-problem-too-little-government-lending/), the [Community Reinvestment Act](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/hud/housing-finance-2008-financial-crisis), endless [pork binges](http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/14/senate-sends-11-trillion-bill-to-obama/?feat=home_headlines), and a national debt surpassing [$12 *trillion*](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34420565/ns/business-personal_finance/) have the absolutely staggering hubris to think that they somehow have what it takes to teach *your* kids about sound financial practices!

This would actually be pretty funny (for instance, it reminds me of this [classically trite PSA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Elr5K2Vuo)) were the complete unshackling of the federal leviathan of which it is a symptom not, potentially, utterly devastating. Unfortunately, we simply can’t afford, either literally or figuratively, to laugh at absurdities or patently [unconstitutional overreaching ](https://www.cato.org/2009/10/27/the-constitution-not-that-old-thing/)like this anymore.

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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