Economics for the Lay Musician

The Wall Street Journal had a very interesting blog post on music and economics, which led me to the original educational site. I wish my teachers had been more inventive when I studied economics at school. The education board did organise various extra curricular activities that aimed to stimulate creativity and develop business acumen but sadly these were poorly executed. I entered a competition that simulated a trading room but was very poorly equipped. All they furnished was a thin little booklet that sprouted phrases like "P/E" and "Quick Ratio" and I barely had the chance and time to learn what those meant before I was thrown in headlong into something I didn't really understand. They tried to get us to invent something and pitch it in another competition but again, didn't really teach us how to think. How would you expect someone to fish without a fishing rod? Perhaps it is possible for someone to learn how to fashion a rod and learn effective means of fishing all on their own but to do that requires a certain genius and resourcefulness not readily available to everyone. Moreover, such persons usually do have some form of mentoring.