How are businesses and entrepreneurship presented in school textbooks? A new study reveals a depressing truth. Carried out in Germany, the study should inspire think tanks around the world to pose the same questions in other countries, too.

The results of the study, which was commissioned by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Germany, show that entrepreneurial thinking and entrepreneurs only make a marginal appearance in most school textbooks. “However, this does not apply to the government, which appears in the books as a universal and often paternalistic problem solver.” Overall, the authors make the following assessment of economics and politics textbooks: “We find a very limited, sometimes caricature-like, and distorted image of entrepreneurs.”

The depiction of historical entrepreneurs serves “primarily to portray grievances that allegedly result from ‘free-market competition’ and the dubious character traits of entrepreneurs.” And technical innovation? If these books are to be believed, they often fall from the sky and........

© Townhall