In this episode, Dr Tracey West joins Professor Sally Gainsbury to discuss what actually works in financial education, and how we know.

Tracey is a financial capability researcher and practitioner whose work spans financial education, behavioural change, consumer wellbeing, and large-scale program evaluation. Drawing on her experience with initiatives such as Talk Money with Ecstra Foundation, the conversation explores what financial education programs can achieve, what their evaluation data can and cannot tell us, and why the gap between knowledge, intention, and behaviour matters.

The episode considers how financial capability should be understood in practice, especially for young people navigating digital environments shaped by gambling, buy now pay later products, investing apps, scams, and online spending. It also examines where responsibility sits with individuals, educators, regulators, governments, or commercial platforms.

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Show notes and links:

Books:

• Akerlof & Shiller, Phishing for Phools

• Robert Shiller, Finance and the Good Society

• Dan Ariely, Dollars and Sense

• Tyson Yunkaporta, Sand Talk

• Richard Thaler, Misbehaving

Podcast:

• Tim Harford, Cautionary Tales

Academic article:

• Netemeyer, R. G., Lynch, J. G., Lichtenstein, D. R., & Dobolyi, D. (2024). Financial Education Effects on Financial Behavior and Well-Being: The Mediating Roles of Improved Objective and Subjective Financial Knowledge and Parallels in Physical Health. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 43(4), 254–275. https://doi.org/10.1177/07439156241228197