Robert Hopkins, regional executive at the Little Rock Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, minced no words in a May 9 guest column on the Democrat-Gazette’s Voices page, writes Eric Harrison in Family.
Hopkins wrote: “Our state ranks low in terms of personal finance education in high schools, and in financial literacy and related behavior of the general population,” he said. “Indeed, the Employee Benefit Research Institute ranked Arkansas No. 48 among the states in financial behavior of its residents and No. 49 in financial literacy, both in 2011, the latest year for which the ranking is available.
“In an economy that is still in recovery mode — with college graduates facing a difficult and changing employment landscape, rising student debt and a generation of baby boomers to help support in the years to come — it is crucial that young Americans learn to manage their personal finances.”
See Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for a guide to free resources on economics and personal finance for consumers, teachers and students at all levels.