Trump must mandate high school economics to stop socialism

Only 22 states require economics for high school graduation, according to the Council for Economic Education’s 2026 Survey of the States — down from 28 in 2024. In all 22 of those states, economics is taught as part of social studies. Almost never is it a stand-alone course taught by economists or economics specialists. That must change.

Several states are already moving in the right direction. Florida just adopted rigorous new “History of Communism” standards that require students to study the collapses of the Soviet Union, Mao Zedong’s China, Cuba, and Venezuela, while contrasting them with capitalism’s success. Texas passed a similar 2025 law mandating instruction on communism’s failures and modern threats. Ohio recently strengthened its economics standards to highlight the advantages of free markets versus socialism and Marxism.

A proper economics course, taught as a stand-alone semester class by economists or subject-matter experts, would begin with the basics: Private property, voluntary exchange, and incentives drive the innovation and prosperity that have given the U.S. the highest standard of living in history. Students would then examine command economies, in which the state owns the means of production and central planners replace markets. The historical record is unambiguous. Venezuela’s “21st-century socialism” produced an 80% GDP collapse, hyperinflation exceeding 1,000,000%, mass starvation, and millions of refugees. The Soviet Union, Mao’s Great Leap Forward, and Fidel Castro’s Cuba delivered chronic shortages, engineered famines, and stagnation.

Socialism is not a harmless compromise. Vladimir Lenin was explicit: “The goal of socialism is communism.” It is the gateway stage in the Marxist progression toward total state control. The two systems share the same flawed logic and produce the same tragic outcomes.

The absence of early, high-quality economic education is visible on campus and in the polls. Gallup’s August 2025 survey found that only 31% of Democrats under 50 hold a positive view of capitalism, down from 54% in 2010, while 66 view socialism positively. Pew’s 2022 survey showed that just 40% of people 18-29 view capitalism positively — the lowest of any age group and 33 points below those 65 and older.

Fortunately, the remedy works. A 2016 study in the Journal of Economic Education found that “studying economics appeared to increase beliefs in favor of personal freedom and decrease support for government intervention in markets.” Students who major in economics become significantly more supportive of free markets by graduation.

A 2010 Federal Reserve Bank of New York report showed that additional economics coursework correlates with a higher likelihood of identifying as Republican and a lower likelihood of Democratic affiliation — even after controlling for income and other factors. President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon are ideally positioned to lead. While K-12 education is primarily a state and local matter, the federal government can condition portions of Title I and other funding on states adopting a stand-alone, rigorous economics requirement taught by qualified economics instructors. It can develop and promote high-quality model curricula that present an honest, evidence-based comparison of economic systems. And it can offer competitive grants to accelerate adoption.

This approach respects federalism while treating economic literacy as the national security and prosperity issue it truly is. We are at an inflection point. Either we arm the next generation with the facts, taught properly by experts, or we watch them repeat history’s most expensive mistakes.

By partnering with states to mandate accurate, stand-alone economics education, the Trump administration can secure America’s unprecedented prosperity and liberty for generations to come. The time to act is now. Our country’s future depends on what we teach our children today.

Jeffrey Lax is a Professor of Law at the City University of New York and Chair of the Department of Business at Kingsborough Community College. He holds a Juris Doctor from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a Master of Business Administration from Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business, Management, and Finance from Brooklyn College.