You would think that the single most important thing for a major newspaper editorial board would be having some evidence to back up pronouncements about "the single most import (sic) way to help people" avoid financial troubles.
The reflexive habit among the well-to-do is to blame "financial illiteracy" because it has the nice compound effect of diverting attention away from government policies and also carries an element of blame the victims, which is always useful when trying to keep people from thinking about how our tax and regulatory policies have systematically funneled money from the bottom to the top.
But the fact is, we're as financially literate as we've ever been, if not more so. What has changed is not the financial acumen of the bottom 99% but the rapacity of the 1% -- we have never had since the advent of the Progressive Era is such a complete rollback of democracy-enhancing policies and the concomitant takeover of the political process by the power of the 1%, which of course the Big Zero prefers not to address.
Keeping bill collectors at bay: Editorial | OregonLive.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/08/keeping_bill_collectors_at_bay.html
The single most import way to help people avoid unmanageable debt: education. Schools must do a better job of teaching students about financial issues. A recent international survey showed that about one-fifth of American students struggle with basic financial tasks, such as reading an invoice. Fewer than 10 percent master advanced tasks such as comprehending tax brackets or investment options – or deciphering medical bills.
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