The United States faces an economic-influenced educational crisis. According to the U.S. Department of Commence, Census Bureau data (2002) the difference in household earnings between the upper and lower quintiles has worsened over the last forty years. Future generations possess suspect knowledge to properly manage this income, as youth possess very low financial literacy levels. Determining benchmarks relevant to all societal dimensions presents a challenge to developing financial education curricula. The No Child Left Behind Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2001) provided financial incentives for developing financial literacy curricula, but did not provide guidelines for these curricula. Absent systematic changes to the economic education processes, one risks alienating children by teaching them improper economic curricula. In this article, the author presents a literature review that begins with studies about economic relationships with psychological processes. It follows these studies with research into economic influences in education systems and concludes with suggestions for improvement in financial literacy education.