Cognitive ability correlates positively with many financial outcomes but why? One important relationship to understand is the degree to which cognitive ability is associated with greater knowledge of economics, but this has not been tested extensively. Here in two large, pre-registered studies (N = 1356), we tested the relationship between cognitive ability and both economic knowledge and financial literacy. Three predictions were key: i) Cognitive ability would show a large positive association with economic knowledge; ii) Cognitive ability would be associated with better financial literacy and iii) Greater economic knowledge would be positively associated with financial literacy. All three predictions were supported and replicated. Cognitive ability predicted economic knowledge (r = 0.37 to 0.52) independent of and with much larger effects than either educational attainment or economics courses. The findings extend effects of general ability to include greater awareness of economic functions, and improved use of economic information which improves lifetime financial wellbeing.

认知能力与许多财务结果呈正相关，但为什么呢？要理解的一个重要关系是认知能力与更多的经济学知识相关联的程度，但这尚未得到广泛的测试。在两项大型预注册研究 ( N  = 1356) 中，我们测试了认知能力与经济知识和金融知识之间的关系。三个预测是关键： i) 认知能力与经济知识有很大的正相关；ii) 认知能力将与更好的金融知识相关联，并且 iii) 更多的经济知识将与金融知识正相关。所有三个预测都得到支持和复制。认知能力预测经济知识（r = 0.37 到 0.52) 独立于教育程度或经济学课程，但其影响要大得多。研究结果扩展了一般能力的影响，包括对经济功能的更高认识，以及改善对经济信息的使用，从而改善终生财务状况。