Response to Blog Post

In his article “What is Poverty”, Alperen Bay does an excellent job of clearly expressing his perspective on the inclusion of financial literacy classes to grades kindergarten through 12. Alperen effectively use his style and ethos to persuade the audience into recognizing just how valuable financial knowledge is.

In his blog posts, Bay not only introduces the audience to the value of financial literacy classes, but he goes into in depth detail about how these courses are beneficial for all stages of life. Bay also goes into great detail of what exactly these courses would include such as practice exercises with real world scenarios.

Effects Around the World.

Alperen Bay does an effective job of explaining how courses like he suggests have promoted growth and opportunity in countries where they have been implemented. Bay uses an amazing quote from the Journal of Economics and Finance that truly stresses the long-term stability and overall benefit that these classes provide. “Financial illiteracy is often associated with poor financial outcomes, which has promoted the introduction of financial educational programs in several countries… There is a large and growing literature showing that sizeable fractions of the population lack basic skills to make sound financial decisions.” (Brugiavini, A et al, 2020).

Something Must be Done

In other words, unproper financial training almost always leads to failure in making long term smart and sustainable financial decision. There is a growing amount of lack of knowledge in this field and that is an increasingly bad problem that will affect families for generations. The way to combat this lack knowledge is simply incorporate opportunities for people to practice making smart decisions with their money. This must be done in an environment where people can learn tips and strategies for making smart moves, such as a classroom.

Later in his post, Alperen Bay does amazing job of clearly expressing why these skills must be learned at a young age.

“These students are taking on the world at a young age without any knowledge about money”

This sentence really resonated with me because I often feel very isolated and frustrated with my own financial choices but am often too scared or lazy to ask for guidance. I believe I’m not the only young person who feels this way too.

Bay connects with his audience and surely persuades us to understand the value of financial literacy. His blog made me realize that there is a “oh well let’s take it day by day” mentality among the younger age group and our approach to finances. We must learn proper planning and preparation through these courses.

Bay, A (2018, October 7). What is Poverty? Retrieved from https://medium.com/@alperenb

Brugiavini, A el al (2020). On the Effect of Financial Education On Financial Literacy: Evidence From a Sample of College Students. Journal of Pension Economics & Finance; Cambridge Vol. 19 Iss. 3