Children aged five will be given compulsory lessons on managing their finances from next year as part of a range of new measures for primary schools. From seven to 11, youngsters could learn about managing bank and savings accounts, and how to budget. Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has disclosed details of the new programme, which starts with lessons on how to save money in a piggy bank. Mr. Balls is also expected to announce a £50m fund for schools to intervene with extra lessons if six or seven-year-olds fall behind with basic Maths or English. – UK Telegraph

Dominant Social Theme: The earlier the better …

Free-Market Analysis: So Gordon Brown (pictured left) and his comrade in catastrophe, Ed Balls, have decided to give British children the opportunity to learn from their example. British schoolchildren are to be provided with a curriculum that will help them better understand finance as they grow up. The idea that the British Labour party would think itself the appropriate supervisory force for this sort of activity is rich with irony. Here's something that appeared in the British Spectator late last year:

Defaults by sovereign governments have been with us since at least the 4th century bc, when ten of 13 Greek municipalities defaulted on their loans. France (eight times) and Spain (six times) hold the record for defaults between the 16th and the end of the 18th centuries. ‘Only in the 19th century, however, did debt crises, defaults, and debt restructurings – defined as changes in the originally envisaged debt service payments, either after a default or under the threat of default – explode in terms both of numbers and geographical incidence.' This history becomes increasingly relevant in the wake of Wednesday's Pre-Budget Report – which told us that the government will need to borrow a cool £243 billion from the City by the end of this financial year, as it builds up a debt pile now expected to hit 1.47 trillion by 2014/15. This mountain of debt has been created by Britain's insatiable welfare state, spending to cope with the recession, and a tax system heavily dependent on corporate profits and high-earners.

Does that sound like the kind of government that should be giving lessons to children about money? Yet it is a signifier of the depth of British political depravity that Balls and Brown are perfectly comfortable making such announcements and much of the feared British press (mainstream) will carry such announcements without a quaver. The whole British system is pretty much beyond repair now, one thinks, at least from a political perspective. The Torys are even afraid to speak out against the nation's wretched nationalized health care system and the authoritarianism that was kicked-started by Blair and NuLabor has morphed into something truly frightening. Here's more about the proposed new curriculum as envisioned by Ball:

Between the age of five and seven, they could be taught to identify different coins and notes, and how to save money. From seven to 11, youngsters could learn about managing bank and savings accounts, and how to budget.

In secondary schools, from the age of 11 to 14, pupils could be given lessons on credit cards, mortgages and loans, or about managing household finances, such as bills. And 14-16-year-olds could be taught about debt and how money problems can affect people. Mr. Balls said: "It's really important that we teach our children about pensions, responsible saving and effective money management."

Martin Lewis, creator of MoneySavingExpert.com, said: "Finally we're getting somewhere. We encourage our youth into debt when they go to university, but the disgrace is we've never educated them about debt."

However, Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Ed Balls is as much an architect of our financial woes as Gordon Brown is. The idea that he is trying to teach kids about financial management is an early April Fool's joke."

These are our sentiments exactly. In any event, we would be glad to draft an introduction for the curriculum that Balls and Brown are going to provide to British schoolchildren. It would go something like this:

Dear British Schoolchildren:

"Welcome to your course on learning to handle money. Before we get started with the basics, it is important that you understand the larger frame of reference when it comes to money. Now you won't understand much of the following, but we will be providing this statement in writing, so you can bring it home to Mummy and Daddy, and they will explain it to you.

"What you need to know, dear children, is that Britain is not yours. It belongs for the most part to a few very powerful individuals. These individuals do not care much for Britain even though they lead it and own it. In fact, they are trying to do away with Britain, or at least British power. They wish for Britain to be subordinate to larger powers – specifically the EU. They would deny this, of course, but throughout the past 50 years your parents have been lied to by a succession of Tory and Labour governments about the "common market" of the EU. Now you – Britain – have passed into its grasp and will have much difficulty extracting yourself.

"Why would we, New Labour, wish do away with Britain? Why would the Royal Family and Queen Mum countenance such a thing? Because the EU itself is in fact controlled by in large measure by those who control the United States and Britain – and who initially founded the EU (for all intents and purposes). Would the EU – Germany or France – actually dare cross the United States or Britain on any policy of significance? Of course not. The EU is a creature of the Anglo-American empire and like a vampire, the EU is being positioned to sink its teeth into Britain's neck and drain its commerce, energy and ambition slowly, almost imperceptibly until Britain is no more. Sorry if that image upsets you children. (Parents, you can leave it out). Now we will start to learn about the British pound which is shortly to be replaced by the euro."

Are regional understandings such as the EU a prelude to further consolidation and even eventually some sort of global government? We would tend to think it a possibility. Whether people will put up with this sort of thing – taking place under their noses and adequately if painfully displayed on the Internet – remains a question however. We think that these empyrean plans, if pursued with enough enthusiasm, will implode at some point. At which time the world would revert to a private market gold and silver standard of some sort. We hope Balls and Brown have in mind teaching their schoolchildren about honest money and precious metals along with the other skills they will surely need. We doubt it though.