# Economics



## Senter (Nov 21, 2011)

What's your all's experience with economics? pros cons? ( this is meant as a major)


----------



## Khar (May 21, 2011)

Welcome to PerC if somewhat belatedly, @Senter!

Sorry for the slowness of my response, I don't have any duties which keep me here so PerC drops way low on my priorities for the holiday season! 

Economics as a major is a lot more difficult than people believe, and the most difficult of the social sciences to complete a degree in. To become an actual economist, typically you require at least a Masters level of education, although down in the US they tend to be kind of elastic in who they call economists. 

To complete an economics degree, you will usually have at least three, but usually four for the full degree, years of microeconomics and macroeconomic courses, and you will have at least two, usually three years of econometrics courses, which focus on advanced statistics, beginning in second year. Micro and Macro typically focus on the theory in the first year, and then quickly move into removing the basic theories people tend to use in economic debates on the internet and focus on building the foundations of economics in mathematical terms, meaning understanding proofs, graphs, a decent amount of calculus, matrices and so forth. Micro will also begin to take you deeper into things like game theory, and often an entire micro course is dedicated to game theory. If you are planning to go to the advanced level in economics, with a Masters or higher, I sincerely recommend a course in game theory, or taking it even if you aren't going advanced -- it looks good on your resume. 

You will also be expected to complete a significant amount of math courses, usually comparable to four or more half-year courses at the minimum. Many people I know in economics tend to either come in with math degrees, come in with a science/math oriented degree, or do a double major/minor which includes mathematics since math plays a large role in economics and how it works. 

Tests in first year tend to be geared towards multiple choice, since many people use econ as an option. In second year, multiple choice all but disappears, and you will be writing long answer, difficult tests in most of your courses, or should be. You will also be expected to draw graphs and do a significant amount of calculations. Both the graphs and calculations will become more complicated as time goes on. Statistics is an important aspect of advanced economics because of the importance of curves, regressions and sampling within the field, so study well. People can succeed if they are not math whizzes, but a degree of competence is required, just like engineering requires a level of competence. 

Economics is good as a degree if you plan on doing professional schooling, in law or in business. Those who take economics have the right mindset and work ethic among the typical arts degrees which go towards applying to these fields, and is a good basis to begin law with -- those with economics backgrounds tend to excel in understanding concepts like bargaining and decisions within the legal system, regardless of nation this is being studied in. Likewise, those with Masters education are in high demand by government agencies and almost all levels and by industry, who tend to use them to forecast specific industries, which economics is fairly good at, or as analysts for decisions a firm will make. 

As for perception, expect for news reports, media reports, talk shows and even basic conversations on economics to slowly drive you insane or mad. The breadth of economics is generally overlooked or skewed, and many of the TV "economists" are journalists or financial analysts of some sort, and neither those with business degrees nor journalists tend to have a good idea of what is going on. Hence, you will find that you are entering a field with a good history in reality but with poor public sentiment, as people throw themselves behind charismatic figures pretending to be economic gurus and then being surprised when their gurus fail them. 

As to what you will learn, economics tends to focus on a lot more than the "neoliberal view," and I find that people tend to be confused about that when discussing economics -- socialism is an economic paradigm (even though I hate using terms like capitalism and socialism these days, too politically charged), and its support is often derived from economic literature, for example. Economists do support the idea of the invisible hand, but we view it in such a way to show that mechanisms impact other mechanisms in a way to move towards equilibrium, which is common sense. We don't prescribe this to be the best equilibrium, simply an equilibrium. A good deal of time will likely be spent on such things as welfare economics, trade, social policy, public goods, utility maximization, developing economic growth, social welfare, regulation, government policy and so forth, how different firms interact and how a government can effectively implement fiscal policy, guidelines which nations tend to follow today. Commonly discussed market mechanisms should be covered as well. I encourage you to make use of optional courses, which truly show the breadth of the field. The overall aim is to show how a society, with unlimited needs and wants, makes use of limited resources. 

Basic economic education does include some heterodox theory (like Keynesian principles, monetarist principles and so forth) so as to provide the theoretical grounding and knowledge to argue one way or the other. 

I feel that this is an awesome degree to show how the world works and interacts, and provides you with skills and knowledge applicable to numerous fields. There are a lot of people, however, who get econ degrees, so the market is somewhat saturated with them under the Masters level, but even then skill with maths, stats and such tend to make you a good match for a number of jobs.


----------



## WamphyriThrall (Apr 11, 2011)

@Khar Perfect timing, I was just deciding which of my econ courses to drop (micro vs macro) before the spring semester starts. I can now safely say micro sounds like it will be more interesting, enjoyable, and beneficial for my career path in the long run. :happy:


----------



## koalaroo (Nov 25, 2011)

I'm not sure where you are, but really to be taken "seriously" as an economist in the United States you need to have a Ph.D. not simply a M.A./M.S. ... basically, you'll go from undergraduate to Ph.D. program or you'll get laughed at. If you can't do that, I wouldn't suggest making econ your major.


----------

