What is economics?
Economics is a social science that studies how goods/services are produced, distributed, and consumed. It investigates how people, corporations, organizations, and countries make investment decisions. Human activities are the centerpiece of economics, which is founded on the idea that individuals act rationally, pursuing the highest degree of gain or value. The study of labor and commerce are the foundations of economics. Because there are many various uses for human workers and so many various ways of obtaining commodities, it is up to economists to figure out which techniques produce the greatest outcomes.
Economic ideology, as a study of choice, is present in our daily lives whether we are aware of it or not. We use economic reasoning while analyzing credit card rates, deciding whether one should purchase or lease a new automobile, going to lunch, or planning a trip. We exist in a world with scarce resources, and economics assists us in determining how and when to best use such finite funds to attain our never-ending number of desires and requirements. Economics is a broad topic with a long history that has been studied and investigated by hundreds of significant people, from intellectuals to lawmakers.
History
Adam Smith, who is known as the father of modern economics, was indeed a Scottish economist, thinker, and writer who lived in the 18th century. Smith was an outspoken opponent of mercantilism and a supporter of laissez-faire monetary strategy. Smith developed the notion of an unseen hand during his first book, “The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” which describes how free markets govern themselves via competition, supply and demand, and personality. Smith is most known for coining the term “gross domestic product” (GDP) and for his theory of worker compensation. Harmful or unpleasant employments, according to this idea, tend to offer higher compensation in marketing to recruit employees to these positions. Smith’s most famous contribution to economic theory was the book “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,” published in 1776.
Types of Economics
The study of economics may have been classified into two parts.
1. Microeconomics
Individual’s decision-making components might be a single individual, a family, an industry, or a government body; microeconomics focuses on how individuals, consumers, and businesses make the decisions. Microeconomics examines specific parts of human behavior to understand how people react to price fluctuations and also why they desire what they do at specific market prices. Microeconomics attempts to clarify why and how various products are valued differently, how people make financial decisions, and how people exchange, communicate and collaborate in the most efficient way possible. Microeconomics covers everything from production and consumption characteristics to the productivity and expenses of creating products and services; it also covers how labor is split and distributed, how businesses are organized and run, and how individuals deal with unpredictability, risks, and strategic game theory.
2. Macroeconomics
Macroeconomics examines the whole industry on a national and worldwide scale, modeling it with a large number of input economic data and factors. It might be focused on a certain geographic area, a nation, a continent, or even the entire globe. Repeated economic cycles and wide socioeconomic development are two of its major research topics. International trade, federal government balance of payments, unemployment levels, interest rates and inflation, production capacity output development as represented by alterations in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and economic cycles that consequences in enlargement, spikes, economic downturns, and depressions are among the topics studied.
Microeconomics and macroeconomics are inextricably linked. Microeconomic occurrences are clearly and essentially the total amount of collective macroeconomic events. These two areas of economics, on the other hand, utilize quite distinct ideas, concepts, and research techniques, which might appear to be in contradiction at times. For several analysts, combining microeconomic foundations into macroeconomic theories and research is a substantial field of research in itself though.
Is Economics difficult to study?
Nothing is that difficult in this world if we have the power and will to perform the task given to us. If we do something we love, there are no such things as difficulty and failing or not being able to do that task. Students who wish to pursue economics have a little bit of idea that it contains a lot of theories and applications of few mathematic tools which will help them in their career on the latter part. After noticing a few of my friends who are pursuing economics and learning about the difficulties they face during their studies, I have listed down both the issues and the solutions.
1. Lot of theories
Economics is a three years course that primarily focuses on how to improve the business and analysis of a particular company or a firm. One who wants to set up their business must know all the terms of economics right from the balance of payments up to monopoly, duopoly, and oligopoly. Macroeconomics, microeconomics, FC, etc can give you nightmares considering the size of the answers and concept. Having such a vast portion and lots of theories can make it difficult to understand and memorize them. Students might mix up the theories and can make mistakes during the exams or while explaining them to their classmates.
To come up with this situation, students must understand the subjects properly by learning one concept regularly and try to connect them with some real-life examples. Making a real-life example and understanding the concepts from that point of view can surely simplify things and help you remember stuff. Weekly revisions of all the topics you have learned will help you remember things for a longer time.
2. Mathematics
No matter which field you are in, mathematics will never leave you. Just like other fields, Economics consists of mathematics as well as econometrics with lots of formulae and equations to solve. Mathematics consists of derivatives, integrals, differential equations, and what not whereas econometrics consists of other important mathematical tools and tests which are used during research papers. Numbers, equations, formulae, derivation can confuse most of the minds of people around us unless he or she is fond of challenges. Learning economics can be difficult if you don’t understand or like math.
No matter how big the difficulty is, there is always a solution for it. That can be a good motto, both for life as well as in mathematics. Practicing math daily only for an hour can make things easier for you. Trust me; practicing is the only way to come out of this issue. Daily practice will help you remember formulae and the preceding steps for a particular problem to solve. Taking the help of quick notes and sticking it around your study table or your house will help you remember formulae. Remember, use logic more rather than just mugging up things because these mathematical tools can help you solve bigger problems ahead in your career.
3. Graphs
A lot of theories mean a lot of graphs which we need to understand. Graphs are one of those things which can make things easier for you to understand. Graphs contain all the details you need to know for a particular topic along with the respective uses. Predicting the future of any company or product can be easier if you can properly analyze the graph. Graph reading is very important as businesses hire people who can analyze things properly. But it can be really difficult for you if you don’t know how to read graphs.
To solve this problem, you should read the details of the graph properly and while reading the paragraph, try to understand it with the help of the graph too. Doing this will help you read the graph and with practice, you can easily understand the topics.
4. Boring lectures.
Economics consists of a lot of theories and graphs which can make things very boring during the lectures which can make you sleep. A lot of theories and no practical use of the subject can make you hate it more and eventually you lose your interest in studies. Economics demands the presentation of a tale. A professor stating that the demand curve dips downwards and to the right on a graph makes absolute sense to the lecturer since that notion has been imprinted in their minds for years now, but it is difficult to recall how everything seemed to be someone experiencing something for the first time.
Therefore, lecturers should try to involve their students as much as they can to make things interesting. Taking presentations, connecting theories with real-life examples, stories, keeping a lit environment can make things easy to understand.
Scope in Economics
An economics education will help you get a job in a variety of fields, regardless of what business you work in. The global manufacturing sector is extremely popular for highly numerate professionals, and the broadly transferrable analytical and problem-solving abilities gained by economics students imply that economists’ jobs are quite varied. Things get a lot simpler for us when we finish our bachelor’s or master’s degrees in economics.
1. Teacher or educational field
After completing the degree, it has one of the greatest career prospects in Economics. You can take different state-level teaching examinations and become a teacher if you have an Economics degree. After earning a minimum of 55 percent in an M.A. in Economics, a candidate can either pursue a Ph.D. at any university or take the University Grant Commission’s National Eligibility Test, which is currently administered by the National Testing Agency. Economics is taught in schools and universities from the very beginning. In this discipline, economics has a wide range of applications.
Salary: $ 60,200 per year
2. Banking sector
Banking professions are highly popular among economics majors since they provide great earnings potential and are in high demand. Economics graduates are in high demand for positions in financial control, money management, risk assessment, statistical analysis, and consulting. Banking jobs are primarily involved with advising and delivering services for a variety of banking customers and consumers, with a concentrate on bringing customers’ and companies’ financial needs on track.
Salary: $ 41,789 per year
3. Accountancy
Additional professional skills are required to become such a qualified accountant, however many accountant positions are open to individuals who studied economics. Accounting positions allow you to work in a variety of sectors while monitoring an organization’s, business, or individual’s financial status. Accountancy jobs usually include collecting, analyzing, evaluating, and conveying account statements. Analytical skills abilities, mathematical competence, computer knowledge, a thorough grasp of all aspects of a company’s financial position, and the ability to contextualize data are all required for these jobs. Economics graduates are frequently able to decipher complicated data sets and pinpoint the source of financial issues, making them excellent candidates for accountancy positions.
Salary: $ 71,559 per year
4. Economist
You’ll be studying and evaluating economic data, topics, and trends as a professional economist. To obtain the specialized abilities necessary for the bulk of economist professions, you’ll have to understand economics at the post-graduate level. To work as a professional economist, you must be comfortable providing economic projections and reports for customers (individual people, businesses, investment firms, and government agencies), as well as advising on policy and/or corporate strategy. Municipal and regional administration, governmental and non – governmental banks, health insurers, research organizations, big international corporations, fiscal consultancy, accounting firms, and local governments are all potential employers. In these positions, a thorough understanding of current events and economic situations is required.
Salary: $85,023 per year
5. Data analysis
An actuary is a business expert whose job is to assess and advise on the financial risks and uncertainties that people face. Actuaries give reports and create risk-reduction measures based on their understanding of both business and economics. The majority of entry-level positions in this industry are in pensions and insurance, but you may have the option to advance to fields such as banking, investing, and healthcare later on. Actuaries must be proficient in mathematics and statistics, as well as able to properly convey complicated facts to non-experts.
Salary: $67,377 per year
Other major career options
- Business and financial consultancy
- Stockbroker
- Insurer
- Business manager
- Retail merchandiser
- Pricing analyst
- Statistician
Conclusion
Learning Economics is not that difficult to study if you have a basic idea about what is going on, in the bigger picture, you have the idea about basic mathematics, know how to read the graph, and more or less know how to read things and understand them. Understanding concepts properly and relating them to real-life examples will help you to remember them for a longer period. Mathematics is something you need everywhere, irrespective of the field you are in. So practicing it daily will help you remember the terms properly. Learning economics will help you grow properly in the real world and can make things a lot easier. It has a lot of career options to select on too with good returns.
