A rationale, survey of research findings, and research needs for economics education are offered. The case for the universality of economic literacy has been forwarded by several leading economists. Economics education is seen as an important key for the survival of humanity; the task of the educator is to reduce partial ignorance, misinformation, and lack of foresight. A survey of four major research reviews and recent issues of "The Journal of Economics Education" suggests that past efforts have been narrowly focused or redundant. Also, while economic research is carefully quantified from a statistical stance, outcome measures were less satisfactory than found in science and mathematics educational research. Future research should focus on the teacher's decision-making process on content selection and presentation, academic learning time, and differential benefit gains for students at different cognitive levels. Major issues include investigating how students internally structure and make meaningful the variety of concepts and principles of economics and identifying how psychological and instructional variables assist in student learning. (KC)