September 16, 2006 4:47PM # Public Health & Economic Literacy By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) --- SHARE My former research assistant is now pursuing a master’s degree in public health at Harvard. She recently [blogged](http://www.clutchpearls.com/?p=663) about her economics course: > During econ class today, the professor explained in great detail the ways in which the federal government tinkers with agricultural output, like price floors and crop restriction and so forth. A lot of my classmates were genuinely surprised at the extent to which government messes with food production to placate the farm lobby, and that, in turn, surprised *me*. I thought most people — or most well-educated grad students and medical residents, who make up my class — knew all about concentrated benefits/​diffuse costs, and why we probably pay more for milk than we should. At one point, a student from India, astonished, said, “You mean the government actually sets aside these funds *every* year for this purpose?” Professor: “Of course not. We run deficits.” Again, these students made it all the way to *Harvard* without any exposure to such things. Makes me wonder if any research has been done on the economic literacy of the public health profession. (E‑mail me [here](mailto:mcannon@cato.org) if you’re aware of any.) Let’s just hope that Adrienne’s econ class is a required course. ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care), [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).