Economic commentator Joe Kernan, with some help from his daughter Blake, shows us how to educate the next generation on business and economics, while undoing some of the damage brought about in the classroom by teachers who have drunk too much progressive Kool-ade.   

I had never heard of Joe Kernan before his recent book arrived in my mailbox the other day.  I should have been better informed, as I found out he was on the studio end of the famous Rick Santelli "Stop Spending!" rant.  I also learned that he is a very successful business and economics commentator on CNBC, and has been for some time.  The reason why is pretty clear after reading the book he has "co-authored" with his daughter Blake.  He has a wide range of knowledge, immense analytic capacity a great sense of humor and the ability to make what is often complicated appearing stuff very simple, which leads to the purpose of his book "Your Teacher Said WHAT?!" 

This book begins with a story about how daughter Blake came home one day reporting that her teacher suggested that it would be good for the economy if people stopped buying and selling so much.  For a in intelligent business person that must have had the same effect as the detonation of a grenade in the middle of the living room.  In any event, it resulted in the creation of a terrific book

I'm certain that a large number of parents have hit a brick wall of sorts when confronted by questions from their children about how the economy works.  This book totally solves the problem of how to explain free markets to elementary school children by using examples from the real world and things they encounter in everyday life.  It is remarkably simple to understand and even funny.  Mr. Kernan has a remarkable sense of humor and even the absurd, particularly when dealing with how Hollywood produces anti-business / anti-capitalist films, while making billions off of the system that they condemn.  One might note that the recent release of Atlas Shrugged came after the book was published, and it is not a Hollywood major studio production.

The concept of the book is simple.  Each chapter covers one general topic structured around conversational vignettes between Blake and her father.  Each vignette provides a likely situation that a parent will encounter in bringing up their children; followed by a discussion of the information needed to explain the answer, generally involving exactly how Mr. Kernan did it with Blake.  Sometimes there will be digressions into additional information that may become useful if the child is sophisticated enough to understand them, or which may provide the parent with additional material to interpret and use as they see fit. 

We see analyses of the European welfare system, Willie Wonka as a capitalist, children as progressives because of their attachment to rules and regulations and other aspects of daily life used to explain why things aren't always as they appear, and why there are often better ways to do things then letting regulators take over. 

The topics covered range from property to production, regulation, welfare statism, pricing, unions and last but not least in importance, the role of opinion pages in the daily newspapers. 

It is easy to suggest that a book such as this is long overdue, and while there will probably be a few places where the reader will disagree with the author's analysis of certain aspects of a particular topic, it does not detract from the overall value of the work, which might even be used as a basic economics text for middle school students in home school.  The home school industry would be well advised to incorporate it into their curriculum, because it is as comprehensive and well presented as anything otherwise available.  The blend of information, humor and life experiences makes it a work and of immense value, whether you are using it to educate yourself, educate your children, or use it as a tool for your children to educate themselves.  If it had been available 40 years ago our nation might not be in the economic difficulties it is today. 

Your Teacher Said WHAT?! is published by Penguin and is available from Amazon.com.  It features a terrific picture of the co-authors looking exasperated on the cover, which most everyone will probably find amusing; and that was certainly the intent in putting it there