Interview of John Monroe

Students Study Economics -- Appreciate the United States

Unsigned

[Reprinted from Free Enterprise, March, 1963]

Many Free Enterprisers will be interested to know what John Monroe of Chicago (formerly director of the Henry George School there) has recently done through his Institute for Economic Inquiry which high school students attend voluntarily and without charge at the suggestion of their instructors. For example, here are the comments made by three Lane Tech students concerning the Institute for Economic Inquiry:

Brian Banner: "I've learned how America grows - how a man takes something from nature and changes it. Like iron ore into steel. I'd never thought about this, before."

George Daszko: "Now I understand what the word 'economy' means. It isn't just money and how you spend it. It's all the things we use, how we produce them, how we live better."

Rollie Merrick: "The first couple of sessions I was lost, but soon all the pieces seemed to fit. I'm glad Mr. Childs told us about IEI. Before I came down here, I used to skip over the business pages because I didn't care what business was doing. Now I like to read the business news."

Young Merrick was referring to his Lane Tech history teacher, Mr. Ralph Childs, a patriotic conservative, who believes that our youth today do not fully appreciate the American Way of Life because they do not understand how our free enterprise system operates.

"To get the most out of history," Mr. Childs says, "a student has to do more than read a textbook. He should question the author; do his own thinking. If not, there is a tendency to accept what authors say as gospel truth and this is one way false ideas are spread.

"I told my history students about IEI," Mr. Childs continued, "because I figured it wouldn't hurt to get behind the ideas that have evolved since ancient times and IEI's method of inquiry is one way of doing it."

Mr. Childs says that since his students have been enrolled in IEI, they have become more attentive and are more willing to question what is given them to see if it follows logically.

How do the high school students compare with the 959 adult graduates of IEI last term? Their conference leader, Jacques B. Schneider, a music supervisor of Public School District Three in Elmhurst, says:

"They participate in the discussions on a much broader basis than adults do. Their explanations of their own feelings about certain ideas are extensive. They just don't say 'yes' or 'no.' They are quite articulate.

"Their thinking seems clearer than most adults'. They don't have as many pre-conceived ideas about economics and their prejudices are not as deeply rooted as those of adults."



John Monroe's Institute for Economic Inquiry, at 236 North Clark Street in Chicago, provides the seminar leader, conference room, and study materials. The non-profit organization offers its courses as a public service without tuition of any kind. Last year IEI recorded a 172% increase in enrollment in its 10-session, round-table economic study courses. Manufacturers, an airline, a steelmaker, electric and electronics shops, publishers, parent and teacher associations are among 24 companies now sponsoring courses in Illinois. Indiana and Michigan.