Dr Helen Hoang and her book, Economics for Kids. Photo: Dr Helen Haong.
Economics.
One word in, and you’re already bored. So, how on earth is a nine-year-old kid going to stay focused as you discuss monetary policy, Gross Domestic Product and Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand?
It’s the problem that led Canberra’s Dr Helen Hoang to take a year off work to come up with a solution. It’s called Economics for Kids, and it’s a bestseller in the “Children’s Books on Money” category on Amazon, and is ranked just behind The Barefoot Investor for Kids in the “Children’s Money and Saving” category.
Amazon’s summary of the ratings says “customers find this book accessible and engaging for younger readers, with one noting it keeps readers wanting to read more”.
“They appreciate the storytelling approach, with one customer highlighting how it turns complex topics into exciting adventures.”
Dr Hoang emigrated to Australia from Vietnam 14 years ago. She holds three master’s degrees, in Economic Policy, Business Administration, and Development Studies from the Australian National University (ANU), as well as universities in Switzerland and Vietnam. She earned her PhD economics at the ANU, before heading back to Vietnam in 2016 to teach economics at a university there. She now works for the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
But she says all this time away from home took a toll on her son.
The book’s two volumes were published this year. Photo: James Coleman.
“I didn’t spend enough time with him, and he’s not really good at expressing himself, he gets nervous and doesn’t want to talk, so I really wanted to spend time with him to understand why,” she says.
So, the pair set out on a mission to tour different parts of Canberra every week, just soaking in the scenery and the time to talk.
“We talked about different things, but he’s interested in economics and asked me some questions, and that’s how I realised how challenging it is to explain economics to the likes of nine-year-old boys.”
Her son likes a good fairy tale and fable, so she says she began to take stories like ‘The Goose and the Golden Egg’ and ‘The Ant and the Grasshopper’, and ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and pull out various economic principles from them – such as John Keynes’ Insight on Smart Intervention and opportunity cost and risk management planning.
Little Red Riding Hood visits Parliament House in this lesson. Photo: James Coleman.
“I didn’t want to make him overwhelmed and I wanted the study of economics to be fun,” she says.
Then she looked at the figures, which suggest Australia is facing a “youth financial literacy crisis”.
Only 28 per cent of teenage boys and 15 per cent of girls show “financial literacy”, according to a 2024 University of NSW (UNSW) study.
Year 12 economics enrolments in Australia have fallen 70 per cent since the 1990s, with girls and regional students among those most affected, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
And Monash University found 86 per cent experienced financial difficulties in the last 12 months, and just over one-quarter “often” experienced financial difficulties.
“When I talked with my son, I realised he is very curious about the world around us, but he lacks financial and economic literacy. This stuff is not really taught at school. I think many schools have a heart for history and social science, but don’t consistently teach economics.”
After several of these outings to places like the National Carillon, Parliament House, and Lanyon Homestead, she decided to take a year off work and finesse many of her conversations with her son and put them into a book (well, two volumes), targeting ages 8 to 13.
Each volume covers 10 “economic life skills” wrapped in 10 “timeless fairy tales”.
Dr Hoang also describes the book as her “love letter to Canberra”, so you’ll find copious references to local landmarks.
“I distributed my book to some primary schools around Canberra and I got feedback from teachers, as well as children and parents, on how to improve the second edition,” she says.
“But everyone loved the storytelling … This subject is quite complicated and people normally ignore it, but when parents say, ‘Oh, it’s a fairy tale’, the kids run to the room and think it’s so interesting.”
Dr Helen Hoang grew up in a poor area of Vietnam. Photo: James Coleman.
She also says, “Economics for Kids is my way of giving back”.
“I grew up in a mountainous area of Vietnam, where many families struggled with food and basic needs. My memories are of classmates walking barefoot to school, wearing torn clothes. Growing up, I watched my parents work incredibly hard, stretching a single income to support the family and even others.
“I chose to study economics because I wanted to understand the systems behind these struggles and, more importantly, return one day to help fix them and support my community.
“A Vietnamese proverb says: ‘Give someone a fish, they eat for a day. Give them a fishing rod, they eat for life’. This book is the fishing rod helping children understand how money and the economy work so they can make confident, informed decisions as they grow.”
Economics for Kids is available to purchase online or at various bookstores, including the National Library Bookshop, MoAD Bookshop, ANU Harry Hartog, Woden Harry Hartog and Paperchain Manuka.
