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What Everyone Should Know About Personal and National Prosperity

Common Sense Economics

Velour Drapes and the Wisdom of Mises

Economists’ Meaning of “Consumption”

The Global Market Miracle of the 99-cent Pineapple

When Dinara Nariman and Tomiris Ospan returned from
the International Final Round of the 2024 Economics Olympiad in Greece last
September, bronze and silver medals in hand, they brought back more than just
accolades – they returned with a vision to empower their fellow students in
economics education.


Kazakhstan: Two Young Leaders Promoting Economics Education

The Smith Student Outreach Award recognizes projects which are shown to have had a tangible and meaningful impact for students. It is awarded annually at Atlas Network's Liberty Forum in New York. EFI is honored to have been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Award in recognition of our focus on network building for sustainability and impact. 


EFI receives 2024 Smith Student Outreach Award

“People really
value the things that we do”, says Kemel Toktomushev, Senior Research Fellow with
the Institute
of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Central Asia, EFI’s country partner in Kyrgyzstan. “Economic and financial literacy
is something that is really lacking in our part of the world. Someone has to
make a change”.


Kyrgyzstan: a combination of traditional and unorthodox tactics offers a promising route to improving economic and financial literacy 

The Kyiv-based Bendukidze Free Market Center was one of EFI’s early country partners, and has been a stalwart companion from our early days as book translator and distributor, to our evolution into the driver of an economic and financial literacy campaign that now spans 11 countries.


Ukraine: Bendukidze Free Market Center champions the case for increasing economic understanding in young people

EFI’s Teacher Training Pilot is a project with limitless ambition: our goal is nothing less than to expand and improve the quality of economics teaching and to offer a pathfinder for countries seeking to raise their national standards of economic and financial literacy. 

The pilot is being run in 3 very different countries: Georgia, Kosovo and Ukraine. A train-the-trainer approach is key to enabling this project to grow rapidly, both in these countries and beyond. Each country has recruited a pool of trainers, all experienced high school and university teachers, who will lead teacher training courses, starting this summer. Our trainers have now completed an intensive train-the-trainer workshop, in which English was the language of delivery.


Train-the-trainer workshop in Prague launches Teacher Training Pilot

In late 2021, three driven young economists, fueled by a shared passion to improve national standards of economic and financial education, formed the Georgian Economic Literacy Initiative (GELi). Recognizing the importance of understanding economics and finance in everyday life, they embarked on a mission to make these subjects more accessible and relevant to everyone. GELi envisions a future where economic literacy is integrated into the national educational system, empowering individuals to make informed financial decisions and to contribute actively to Georgia's economic development.


Partner profile: Georgia – a new NGO committed to bringing economic literacy to the nation’s education system

Pristina-based Riinvest Institute
is Kosovo’s oldest think tank and a pivotal force in the
country’s economic evolution. Founded on a mission to promote sustainable
economic development, Riinvest produces analyses, publications, and research
reports, but its contribution extends beyond theoretical contributions to
active involvement in market development, sector interventions, and value chain
initiatives. 


Partner profile - Kosovo: Riinvest Institute as pioneer of liberal economic thinking

The EFI community is saddened by the death of James Gwartney, lead author of “Common Sense Economics” and co-author of the Economic Freedom of the World Report. Jim, Professor Emeritus at Florida State University, was the embodiment of the phrase "a gentleman and a scholar." His career was dedicated to increasing understanding of economics at all levels. 


Thanking James Gwartney, pre-eminent economist and educator

Nestled in a remote and isolated valley in southwest Georgia, the village of Zarzma is home to a remarkable educational project. In addition to their painstaking work restoring the 14th-century monastery they call home, a small group of Georgian Orthodox monks teach at the village’s middle school, introducing teaching methods and creating a learning environment which is inspiring their students to reach new levels of achievement.


Georgia: the monks helping students realize their potential

EFI’s partner in North Macedonia, the Liberal Alternative Institute (LAI), was established in 2012 by a group of young activists returning from their studies in Western Europe and the United States. LAI’s mission is to increase citizen engagement with projects which educate and engage the young people of North Macedonia. Founded on the principles of individual rights, freedoms, and responsibilities, their work is particularly significant in the context of the country’s post-conflict society which still bears the scars of ethnic and religious divisions.


Partner profile - North Macedonia: a small NGO punches above its weight

Seasoned and trainee journalists in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan had an unusual
professional development opportunity this summer thanks to workshops run by EFI
and members of the “Common Sense Economics” authorial team. Professor Joe
Calhoun from the Stavros Center for Economic Education at Florida State
University and Professor Tawni Ferrarini from the Hammond Institute for Free
Enterprise at Lindenwood University in Missouri joined EFI President, Professor
Randall Filer to lead economic reporting workshops.


South Caucasus: Economic Reporting Workshops Offer The Exchange of Ideas

How would you learn if there were no materials in your native language? For countries whose education systems were dominated by Russian for decades, the obstacles to learning remain for many. Kyrgyzstan is no exception. For people living outside the country’s large cities, the lack of Kyrgyz language educational resources is a significant challenge to their personal development. Levels of financial and economic literacy in particular are low.


Kyrgyzstan: Bringing Learning Opportunity to Students in Isolated Regions

What's New?

Because everyone should understand the economics of everyday decisions. Because everyone should speak the language of economics.

Easily explained.

Economics.

Across Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia, EFI and its country partners are offering students, teachers and  the wider public an opportunity to explore the core economic and financial principles that affect their everyday lives - in their own language, and at no financial cost. They are running innovative programs of activities for high school and university students, and their teachers, to encourage and excite interest in the learning and teaching of economics and finance. Competitions and teacher training are at the core of what we do. As we grow our partner base across the region, our goal is to increase standards of economic and financial literacy and thereby to grow personal and national prosperity for a brighter future.

country partners promoting economic and financial literacy

high school students enrol in 2024 Economics Olympiad 

downloads of “Common Sense Economics”

Everyone can be a common sense economist!

EFI’s multimedia learning center is a treasure trove of short videos and articles which explore the fundamentals of economics. The catalog is sourced from educational organizations and provided to us free of charge, allowing us to invest in subtitling and translation and to bring our supporters content to new audiences.

Explore our learning center

EFI is grateful to the many Content providers who allow us to translate and distribute their content for new audiences.

Our Content providers

Sign up for EFI updates

Because everyone should understand the economics of everyday decisions. Because everyone should speak the language of economics.


Engaging with economics encourages students to think freely. It plays a role in reducing fear of change and innovation.

As a teacher, I’ve seen firsthand the impact of EFI’s initiatives on our students. “Common Sense Economics” and the other materials provided by EFI have greatly enriched our curriculum and inspired our students to pursue further studies in economics.

The workshop on economic knowledge in journalism was well curated, and the insights shared by industry experts have empowered us to deliver more accurate and insightful articles for our audiences.

I am blessed to be part of an excellent international team of trainers from the USA, Georgia, Kosovo and Ukraine.

New tools, strategies, techniques and views change the mindset and behaviour.

I can't wait to start revolutionizing the way economics is taught in Georgia!

For myself and my colleagues, our involvement in EFI's programs expands our horizons and is having an impact on both us and our students, developing critical and economic thinking, and increasing our motivation and involvement in our profession. 

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