A weakening of a country's currency tends to do what to its net exports?

Do you know the answers to these questions?

Most people - in fact, probably the vast majority - don't. The high school-age finalists in the 2005 National Economics Challenge held recently at the New York Public Library, however, were an entirely different story.

Not only did these quiz bowl-styled teams of four know the answers, they buzzed in Jeopardy-like before the moderator even finished reading the questions! (The overwhelmingly adult audience gasped appropriately.) And - natch - they nailed the answers: 1. The 1990s. 2. The United States. 3. Increase them.

I was in the audience for part of the competition and moderated the other half and besides being floored by the prowess of these youngsters, I - who, for the record, didn't take economics in high school and got a C in micro economics my first semester in college - began to wonder what sort of benefit solid economic education early on can bring.

Will it, for example, make these kids better with their money?

That's the hope, says Robert Duvall, president of the National Endowment for Economic Education, which sponsors the challenge with Goldman Sachs.

"Economics gives you the framework for making good financial decisions," he says.

It's more than knowing how to open a checking account or avoid predatory lenders.

It's the understanding that the choices you make about not only how to use your money but how you use your time are intertwined.

Understanding concepts like opportunity cost (what you could be doing with that dollar or that hour if you didn't spend or invest it as planned) helps put your personal finance and consumer issues in context.

With topics like Social Security and interest rates making headlines - not just on the front page of the business section, but on the front page of the newspaper - that's more important than ever. Our transformation to a society that not only owns its homes and its cars but its retirement plans and health care means managing our own finances at a time when doing so is increasingly complicated. Learning at least the basics of economics can help us understand them.

The good news is, more schools are stepping up to the plate. Every two years, the NCEE surveys states to see how many include economics and personal finance education in their minimum standards. The numbers are on the rise. Since 1998, the number of states requiring economics for graduation has jumped dramatically.

That's one reason interest in contests like this one is on the rise. This year, 750 teams of four high schoolers competed. The winning team from Parkway Central High School in Chesterfield, Mo., overcame the favorite from Minnesota to grab the prizes - including a $3,000 savings bond for each student and the team's coach.

Might there be a young [Fed chairman Alan] Greenspan in the mix? Thomas Chambers, coach of the winning team says no. Looking at his kids, Chambers says two will probably be doctors, one a lawyer, one will go into business. But they'll all be better at their chosen careers because of their economics background, he says. And they'll all likely be better paid.

"Economics teaches you to be motivated by income in choosing your profession," Chambers notes.

E-mail me at: personalfinance@nydailynews.com