May

6

A Career In Economics

Filed Under Business And Economics Degrees, Career Development, Careers, Colleges And Universities, Economic Education, Economics, General, Graduate Education, MBA Business Education, Online Degrees | Leave a Comment

Economists, as defined by the Labor Department, study how society distributes scarce resources such as land, labor, raw materials, and machinery to produce goods and services. They conduct research, collect and analyze data, monitor economic trends, and develop forecasts.

The Work:

Economists conduct research and prepare data for analysis. They research issues such as inflation, interest rates, and employment levels to come up with data that can be processed to forecast economic change in the future. They prepare their reports by using charts and graphs or tables to illustrate the results of their research. There are many specific areas for work as an economist such as being an organizational economist, industrial economist, labor economist or monetary economist to name a few.

Training:

To become and economist, you will need to earn at least a bachelors degree in economics. Many private sector companies require a master’s degree or Ph. D. in economics from their employees however. A bachelor’s degree in economics will cover topics such as macro and microeconomics as well as statistics and math. Finance, accounting, public relations, public policy and information technology will also be covered in your degree program. To become and economist, you will need to skills in organization, pay keen attention to details, and have patience and persistence. Those with a graduate degree in economics will generally specialize in a specific area of the industry.

Outlook:

An economics degree can provide you an opportunity to work in a variety of professional organizations. A number of economists work in the public sector and help government simplify their operations. Up to 58 % of economists work in this capacity. Depending on your field, expertise, and industry, salaries can vary greatly. Economists in major metropolitan areas average a salary of $78,000 annually, but they can earn significantly more with years of experience.

 

economicsschools.com
Author: Mary Hart

May

6

Honesty In Economics Schools

Filed Under Careers, Colleges And Universities, Economic Education, Economics, General | Leave a Comment

Do you know the biggest reason parents aren’t teaching their kids economics these days? It’s not because there are only a few economics curricula on the market (though that’s true). It’s not because they don’t have time to squeeze economics in (a good course will require only 20-40 minutes per week). It’s because parents want to shield their kids from economic education!

Why would parents want to “protect” kids from economics? According to a study by Frank, Gilovich & Regan cited in the Spring 2000 issue of Markets and Morality, “students completing an introductory course in mainstream economics were far more likely to be less honest at the semester’s end than were students completing a course in astronomy.” In light of financial and ethical collapses at firms like Enron and Qwest, parents are wary of the economic world and hesitant to teach their children its wiles.

Our hesitation is perfectly understandable. Ironically, though, if the above-cited research is accurate, we should be doing just the opposite! We should teach our kids the mechanics of free markets from an ethical perspective.

According to Milton Friedman, Nobel-prize winning economist, the free market system is the most ethical system of exchange because of its mutually-beneficial, non-coercive nature. Free market exchanges are based on self-interested choice, allowing all participants to act only when it benefits them. Not only do our kids miss this lesson, but so do many adults!

And perhaps this is why we’re experiencing so many economic frauds and failures. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said recently that, “Improving basic financial education at the elementary and secondary school level will provide a foundation of financial literacy that can help prevent younger people from making poor decisions that can take years to overcome.”

Why is socialist thinking gaining momentum in our national discourse? It’s because a growing number of people think that capitalism lacks an ethical foundation. They’ve never been taught the moral basis of capitalism and don’t understand how its checks and balances operate. To many of us, the concept of self-interested behavior sounds more like “selfishness” than “a system based on freedom of choice.”

Our kids are also failing to learn their role in our economic system. What powers they possess in the free market will never be tapped if our kids aren’t educated as to just what those powers are!

But perhaps the most important lesson our kids are missing is how to think in cost / benefit terms. How many parents struggle in store aisles, saying over and over, “No” to our children without ever really teaching them the concept of an opportunity cost?

Frightening as real-world economics might be, the study of economics contains valuable life lessons we shouldn’t hide from our kids. As Greenspan said, their understanding of finance and economics will help our kids avoid making bad decisions that can take them years to overcome.

 

 

economicsschools.com

Author: Stephanie Herman

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