Financial Literacy: An Essential Tool for Informed Consumer Choice?

Annamaria Lusardi

NBER Working Paper No. 14084
Issued in June 2008

---- Acknowledgments ----

I would like to thank Keith Ernst, Howell Jackson, Kevin Rhein, Peter Tufano, and participants to the conference "Understanding Consumer Credit: A National Symposium on Expanding Access, Informing Choices, and Protecting Consumers," Harvard Business School, November 2007, and the conference "Consumer Information and the Mortgage Market," Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C., May 2008 for suggestions and comments. This paper builds on several projects I have written in collaboration with Olivia Mitchell, whom I would like to thank for her encouragement, support, and many suggestions. Audrey Brown provided excellent research assistance. Any errors are my responsibility. This paper was written while visiting Harvard Business School and I would like to thank them, and in particular Peter Tufano, for their hospitality. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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