Rather than let students weigh crypto costs and benefits on their own, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau claims to know best.
by Fiona Harrigan
Reason.com
For the past few years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has published financial literacy activities for K-12 educators. These materials examine traditional personal finance subjects like loans, taxes, and saving habits. And as cryptocurrencies have become more popular, the CFPB has woven them into its educational roster, too—but only the parts that fit its agenda.
The resulting activity, “Wondering about virtual currencies,” leans more toward advocacy than it does education. Apart from being self-serving (one reflection question asks students to “write a sentence describing why advisories such as this one are helpful to consumers”), it is overly critical of the current cryptocurrency space.
Cartoonish cautionary tales figure heavily in the activity’s source text, the CFPB’s “Risks to consumers posed by virtual currencies” advisory.