Those who were young in the 60s and 70s will remember the symbols of love and peace, the quirky colors and the open field parties with rock music. They will also remember the emphasis placed on spirituality and, above all, knowing oneself. To confront a problem – or the system, as they would say at the time – it is necessary to know what it is and where it comes from, because, otherwise, we would act blindfolded. So what do you think? This is what financial education is all about.
Let’s start with what we usually understand by economics. When we find the term in a newscast, a newspaper or on our social networks, it usually refers to phenomena of an elusive magnitude. In other words, large-scale issues that are often treated with a lightness that is paradoxical. We say about other fields, such as physics and mathematics, that they are very complex and we are perplexed when we hear people debate who use terms specific to these disciplines. Although inflation, interest rates and exchange rates sound like esoteric topics, they actually affect us all, sometimes without us noticing. Addressing these matters requires studies, data and a rigorous analysis process to know where we stand and why. Attributing everything to ‘supply and demand’ doesn’t get us far – and we find many comments like this on social networks – but we must start from somewhere, and treating the issues with the seriousness they deserve is the best start.
Economics requires introspection, both at the macro level and at the more individual level. For example, the personal budget. When explaining what a budget is, many reduce it to listing what you earn and what you spend, calculating the difference and the result indicates what you can have (or what you owe) in a period of time. Others go further and will tell you about the importance of having a goal so you can adjust your finances and meet your goal. This is true and important, but these are also some of the reasons why it remains a theory: by not reinforcing the personal aspect of the exercise, the budget seems like an abstract concept. A serious budget begins when, including our psychological and emotional perspective, we understand each other. Realizing that we spend so much on coffee every morning and swearing that we won’t do it anymore is self-deception. On the other hand, if we analyze why we buy a macchiato with such regularity, we can come up with a plausible plan. We can’t believe that the answer is to get up an hour earlier when we have such a tight schedule. It sounds easy, but it’s unreal. Or maybe we do it out of an unconscious habit and then the solution is more like quitting smoking, which implies an intense work of introspection.
Investigating our personality is the only way to design a good budget. The ancient Greeks already elucidated it: the word oikonomiafrom which ‘economy’ comes, means “the management of the home”, and if it reflects a lifestyle, its administration must take into account the idiosyncrasies of those who live there, just as the image that a country projects has a lot to do with it. with the way of being of its citizens. Only by taking ourselves seriously, as the protagonists of our lives, can we hope to develop a convincing economy and get out of our messes, without leaving anyone behind.
