Why Study Economics?

WHY STUDY ECONOMICS?

Students take economics courses for all kinds of reasons.

• TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD BETTER
Applying the tools of economics can help you understand global and cataclysmic events such as wars, famines, epidemics, and depressions. But it can also help you understand much of what happens to you locally and personally—the worsening traffic conditions in your city, the raise you can expect at your job this year, or the long line of people waiting to buy tickets for a popular concert. Economics has the power to help us understand these phenomena because they result, in large part, from the choices we make under conditions of scarcity.

• TO GAIN SELF-CONFIDENCE
Those who have never studied economics often feel that mysterious, inexplicable forces are shaping their lives, buffeting them like the bumpers in a pinball machine, determining whether or not they’ll be able to find a job, what their salary will be, whether they’ll be able to afford a home, and in what kind of neighborhood. If you’ve been one of those people, all that is about to change. After you learn economics, you may be surprised to find that you no longer toss out the business page of your local newspaper because it appears to be written in a foreign language. You may no longer lunge for the remote and change the channel the instant you hear “And now for news about the economy.... ” You may find yourself listening to economic reports with a critical ear, catching mistakes in logic, misleading statements, or out-and-out lies. When you master economics, you gain a sense of mastery over the world, and thus over your own life as well.

• TO ACHIEVE SOCIAL CHANGE
If you are interested in making the world a better place, economics is indispensable. There is no shortage of serious social problems worthy of our attention—unemployment, hunger, poverty, disease, child abuse, drug addiction, violent crime. Economics can help us understand the origins of these problems, explain why previous efforts to solve them have failed, and enable us to design new, more effective solutions.

• TO HELP PREPARE FOR OTHER CAREERS
Economics has long been the most popular college major for individuals intending to work in business. But in the last two decades it has also become popular among those planning careers in politics, international relations, law, medicine, engineering, psychology, and other professions. This is for good reason: Practitioners in each of these fields often find themselves confronting economic issues. For example, lawyers increasingly face judicial rulings based on the principles of economic efficiency. Doctors will need to understand how new laser technologies or changes in the structure of HMOs will affect their practices. Industrial psychologists need to understand the economic implications of workplace changes they may advocate, such as flexible scheduling or on-site child care.

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