Basic economics should be taught earlier in schools if the profession is going to foster greater diversity, according to the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Speaking on January 4, Loretta Mester said authorities need to recognise it is “too late” to encourage women and ethnic minorities to take an interest in economics at an undergraduate level.

To drive “significant change in broadening the field”, she said, efforts need to be taken much earlier, in children as young as