Most Americans don't understand basic economics

The Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy (CEEL) released a new survey that estimates the need for increased education on personal finance and economic issues. The national survey conducted last week showed that a great number of Americans were not able to answer some basic questions related to borrowing, interest rates, and terminology. There were even those who weren't able to solve basic math. 

Some of the most interesting results gained from the survey include:

65% of respondents could not subtract 25% from 8. 
50% of respondents have overdrafted their checking account once.
35% of respondents stated they did not have a family/personal budget that would enable them to eliminate their credit card debt by the end of 2009. 

Next week CEEL is going to release a special Christmas economic literacy survey that will further illustrate Americans' lack of personal finances this holiday season knowledge 

The research was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation through a telephone survey of 1,004 adults living in private households in the continental US.

Source: PRnewswire