ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces more thoroughly the rising interest in an economically literate public, highlighted with regards to research on the uptrend, which is related to the investigation of the potential effects of economic education. It outlines the educational hypothesis, where the level of economic literacy is put in the context of money illusion. It is worth focusing on the proper delineation of basic concepts, since some studies refer to the term "economic literacy", some to the term "financial literacy", or those terms are intermingled. Economic literacy might be broken down into two components, the former being conceptual literacy, the latter factual literacy. The central benefit of economic and financial literacy is represented by economic education, which should develop the ability to conduct objective and reasoned analysis of economic problems. Financial literacy is also linked to retirement planning.
