Economics for 9 year olds

Z's teachers does one lecture on economics every week.

The other day, he had to study some material for a review test, and asked me to quiz him. To my surprise the first question was something like: "How does rent-control cause shortages of housing". I'd say he simply does not have the context, and this is a hierarchy-breaking lesson. Anyhow, I'll take comfort that he's not being asked "Why should the proletariat own all means of production?" or "In what parts of the economy can the government be most helpful?"

In a little chat, I found out that his teacher had told them that the government can become like "Big Brother" (in the usual negative sense), and had also told them that when the government sets out to do something, it usually does it inefficiently.

I suppose there's some advantage to living in the mid-west, where people are skeptical of government.