One of the first economic concepts I remember learning about is interest rates – not at school, but from my mum when I was about seven or eight years old. At the time, her explanation didn’t quite make sense to me (perhaps partly because it was delivered to me in Japanese, which has never been quite as easy for me to take in as English).

Many years later in high school, when the concept re-emerged during an economics lesson (this time in English), it made sense, and I was intrigued by the way interest rates could affect not only our daily decisions, but also the economy more widely.

Having more diversity in economics (as in most areas of life) will almost certainly lead to better outcomes.Credit: Matt Davidson

I can’t be certain that my earlier exposure to that concept made it easier for me to digest years later. But having my mum – who I only relatively recently found out majored in economics at university – introducing me to economic concepts throughout my younger years can only have helped.

Of course, not everyone has parents who can readily do this. That means the dramatic drop-off in economics enrolments across high schools and universities over the past few decades can’t easily be tackled in our homes.

Instead, as Reserve Bank economists Emma Chow and Tanya Livermore explain in their latest research bulletin, based on a survey conducted in 2024, one of the keys to boosting economics enrolments is to expose students to the subject earlier.

Before we go into that, let’s talk about why the downward trends we’re seeing in economics enrolments – and the disproportionately low number of female students as well as those from low-socioeconomic backgrounds – is a bad thing.

First, the ability to understand economics helps people to make informed decisions in their daily lives.

Younger me didn’t understand why putting my savings into a high-interest bank account was better than leaving it in a piggy bank, but there are also concepts such as comparative advantage (why I shouldn’t necessarily spend hours........

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