Many problems in the world would be solved if people actually read Economics 101.
However, they rarely read books and indeed most don’t read at a university level.
Rarely reading books is also not tied strictly to the US.
The US is actually pretty illiterate compared to peer countries.
It was genuinely shocking how many people from the latter group just could not understand the absolute basics of supply curves and demand curves.
The upside is that I was able to help them understand it by offering tutoring, where I was in limited supply, and there was endless demand for my services!