A paradigm for learning economic concepts based on cognitive development and learning theory is offered as a guideline for teaching and research. Discussion is divided into two sections. The first section establishes the model's theoretical framework, which is based on two propositions. The first of these is that economic knowledge is not a fixed category but a continuum of three knowledge types. These are: Socially Egocentric Knowledge, experiential knowledge based on a child's exposure to normal economic interactions; Socially Relevant Knowledge, based on wider social awareness of economic events; and Expert Knowledge, grounded in an abstract-theoretical understanding of economic events. The second proposition is that there are three age-correlated levels of economic concept attainment, labled as Concrete-Definitional, Functional-Experiential, and Abstract-Formal. By combining these 2 propositions, a 9-part structure of the economic learning process is formulated. This structure is analyzed, part by part, in section 2. Each part is identified and its learnable concepts, constraints, and corresponding age groups are elaborated. A chart clarifies and summarizes the model. (LP)