Prior to the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak, the Lithuanian economy had been enjoying a rapid growth. Yet, while the number of available jobs had been increasing, the number of unemployed had remained steadily high.
With a sample of 4,000 Slovak students, the Economics Olympiad revealed the most serious weaknesses in economic education of young people. Memorizing is believed to be a long-term problem, but knowledge useful only as a part of quiz shows remains a crucial element of the Slovak education system.
As many as 81% of Lithuanians find their knowledge of economics insufficient. Making economic decisions at every step of the way, Lithuanians compare their understanding of economics to that of physics or political sciences, but find themselves less confident in economics than in computer literacy or mathematics.
Governments spend financial resources on various functions ranging from healthcare to social protection to education to defence and others. Inevitably, a part of public finance is allocated to the functioning of the bureaucratic system because general public services are necessary for other public services to exist.
