Economics


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Why is economics important and exciting?


There are many areas of research within economics.  We all investigate some aspect of social and individual behavior.  Some economists are concerned on how whole countries evolve over time, they may ask questions like:

  • Are people in this society getting good jobs?
  • How is the distribution of income?
  • How come there are poor people?
  • What type of tax system is optimal for this society?
  • Should this country trade with others?
  • Do markets really work?
  • What is the role of the state?

 
And we could also ask questions about the United States:
 

  • Should we privatize Social Security?
  • Should we have universal health insurance?
  • What are the problems of having a trade deficit?
  • What are the problems of having a government budget deficit?
  • Should we spend more or less tax-payers money on the military?
  • Should Universities charge tuition?

 
Some economists study how individual firms and consumers interact with each other and may ask questions like:
 

  • How do firms decide what, how, and how much to produce?
  • How do firms decide what to charge for a product?
  • How do firms decide how much to pay their workers?
  • How do workers decide how much to charge for their time?
  • How government policies affect firms and workers?
  • Are all firms competitive?
  • Are all firms monopolies?
  • Should the government regulate the price of some goods?
  • How do firms compete with each other?

   
There are many areas of specialization for economists: development, health, econometrics, labor, environmental, gender, social evolution, history, history of thought, methodology, public choice, political economy and many more. 
 
People with a degree in Economics tend to obtain higher entry salaries, both in the public and private sectors, relative to other social sciences.  A degree in Economics can be useful also to apply to Law school, MBAs and graduate school in Economics among many other possible avenues.