The bog standard basics presumably relate to more advanced areas, for the purposes of your argument. Otherwise the taxi driver would be unemployed, and out of luck, regardless.
Nonetheless, I've yet to be convinced of the necessity of meeting that standard, basic or not. If one is to look at the UK education system, which doesn't seem to produce measurably worse employment or lives for its participants than the US, then one will note that the maths being taught in the papers given by the person I was responding to in the US is not dissimilar to the lower stream maths GCSE - taken at around 16 - in which a C is a quite acceptable grade for most purposes. Even then, there are things there that would not show up in a GCSE paper - a kid wouldn't need to know scientific notation to pass that test with a C.
As for payday loans etc. The obvious answer is 'don't accept deals you don't understand' it's possible to sting people on a great number of things, based on your advantage in some area that they do not understand. If it's not maths it will be penalty fees hidden in the legalize. By the time you're up to needing scientific notation and square roots to understand your loan, it's a deal that someone ought not to have taken in the first place.
It does not seem unfair to me to ask: You describe it as basic, and threaten all these consequences if it's not taught... there are places where that level of performance is not expected, and these consequences do not seem any more in evidence. So, why should I buy into the idea that this knowledge is needed?
Nonetheless, I've yet to be convinced of the necessity of meeting that standard, basic or not. If one is to look at the UK education system, which doesn't seem to produce measurably worse employment or lives for its participants than the US, then one will note that the maths being taught in the papers given by the person I was responding to in the US is not dissimilar to the lower stream maths GCSE - taken at around 16 - in which a C is a quite acceptable grade for most purposes. Even then, there are things there that would not show up in a GCSE paper - a kid wouldn't need to know scientific notation to pass that test with a C.
As for payday loans etc. The obvious answer is 'don't accept deals you don't understand' it's possible to sting people on a great number of things, based on your advantage in some area that they do not understand. If it's not maths it will be penalty fees hidden in the legalize. By the time you're up to needing scientific notation and square roots to understand your loan, it's a deal that someone ought not to have taken in the first place.
It does not seem unfair to me to ask: You describe it as basic, and threaten all these consequences if it's not taught... there are places where that level of performance is not expected, and these consequences do not seem any more in evidence. So, why should I buy into the idea that this knowledge is needed?