Crypto in the classroom, and why we need better financial education

When Lucy Kellaway left the Financial Times and retrained as an economics teacher, she could not have predicted how the cryptocurrency craze would sweep through British classrooms. But is there anything on the school curriculum to teach teens about the risks of unregulated investments, or even basic financial literacy? Lucy thinks not.

The FT’s Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign — FLIC for short — is hoping to change all that.

In this special Christmas edition of the Money Clinic podcast, presenter Claer Barrett hears why Lucy and other top FT writers are supporting a greater focus on teaching finance in schools, as they recall their own formative experiences with money.Taking listeners on a tour of the FT’s City of London office, she hears from Patrick Jenkins, the FT’s deputy editor and trustee of the charity, who shares financial mistakes he made as a teenager in the 1980s, and US managing editor Peter Spiegel who explains why he thinks there’s a specific culture around money in the US.

If you would like to read more about FLIC’s charitable aims, or to make a donation to support the charity’s work, please visit www.ftflic.com 

You can follow FLIC on Twitter and Instagram @FT_Flic 

There are dozens of free-to-read articles about financial literacy here https://www.ft.com/ft-seasonal-appeal 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.