The how and why of properly functioning markets is critical to understanding the modern world generally.  It is even more important for people trying to get a handle on investing.  Unfortunately, the great majority of people do not truly grasp this vital set of concepts.

The failure to fully appreciate how properly functioning financial markets  really work is costing us a fortune.  I will hazard an educated guess that Americans waste tens of billions of dollars for lack of this critical knowledge.  Clearly, it would be a great gift to the nation, and to countless individuals, if someone could come up with a better way to teach this elusive set of truths.  For the pedagogues among us, the lack of a simple and effective way to teach these concepts brings genuine pain.

I have been teaching courses in negotiation and dispute resolution for over two decades.  Those classes are built around a set of participatory cases –I like to call them games- that allow each student to experience the subject matter and practice using it.  That course structure was not my idea; it was used extensively by my teachers at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard and has been widely adopted at other educational institutions. A great many professors and teachers use it, I would opine, because it is remarkably effective. Students like this type of “experiential learning” and instructors are gratified at the level of student involvement it creates.  I have a pocketful of teaching awards, the credit for which must surely go to this method and my teachers who created it.

Teaching negotiation and conflict resolution through the method of case simulations is well established.  There is a crying need to find an equally effective way to teach how markets truly work.  I am desperately in need of an approach that is educationally successful, engaging for students and simple to use.  Given my track record with negotiation classes, it is natural for me to explore some sort of “teaching through games” to raise people’s understanding of the effects of efficient markets.  Fama may have won a Nobel Prize for his work in this area but popular knowledge has been very slow in catching up.  Furthermore, the great societal value from such learning extends beyond just financial markets.  Rather, we would be enriched by widespread understand of how all markets work.

Thus, I issue this call for games.  Are there simulations already available that I don’t know about?  Can we create some new ones?  Might those who care join together to construct and use a series of teaching tools, built around participatory simulation exercises, that will enrich instruction of how properly functioning efficient markets work?  A world of people seriously needs to know.