10 Reasons Why You Should Study Economics

Concept Of Economics

Economics refers to the branch of social science concerning the production, consumption and distribution of goods and services (Mankiw, 2020). In addition, this group of social scientists evaluates the choice of individuals, nations, governments and businesses’ decisions in allocating resources. Two groups of economics are microeconomics and macroeconomics. The widely used indicators in economics are macroeconomics and microeconomics.

Microeconomics deals with how consumers and firms make decisions in allocating resources. In addition, it evaluates why and how the goods are given value differently, how the individuals make financial decisions, and how they trade, cooperate and coordinate (Gwartney et al. 2021). Within the passage of demand and supply, the price required for manufacturing goods and services and how the labour is segregated and allocated, microeconomics deals with how the businesses are organised and how the individuals arrive at uncertainty and risk in the decision-making. Contrary to this, macroeconomics relates to the branch of economics that assess an economy’s performance and behaviour as an entire entity. Its main focus is the economic cycle that is constantly changing and the wider scope of economic development and growth (Kremer et al. 2019). Moreover, macroeconomics focuses on foreign trade, unemployment rates, the fiscal and monetary policy of the government, inflation levels and interest rate that leads to booms, depressions, recessions and expansions.

Significance of Economics

Regarded as a social science, scientific methods are adopted by economics to assess how scarce resources can be used and exchanged within society. Theories and techniques are studied by economists that are beneficial for developing government policies as they have an in-depth understanding of how to create efficiency in the present-day world. In other words, the cause-and-effect relationship that influences economic growth is studied with the help of economics (Mankiw, 2020).

Reasons for Studying Economics

As a branch of social science, economics studies how individuals, groups, and nations utilise and manage resources (Mankiw, 2020). Both microeconomics and macroeconomics help predict how the markets will act in the future and how they can progress in creating efficiency in the present-day world. The top ten reasons why students should study economics are elaborated below as follows:

• It helps in learning how the world functions: Studying economics helps in giving an in-depth insight into issues such as interest rates, taxation, and inflation that affect daily lives—holding a degree in economics help in comprehending the present real issues of the world. Furthermore, it helps gain insights into how organisations and individuals make decisions and anticipate the changes that might happen worldwide. Learning economics helps in knowing how much is paid for goods and services (Mukhamedov et al. 2020). By understanding the intentional and the national perspectives, economics helps in knowing how societies and cultures interact.
• Economics helps in efficient decision-making in personal and professional life: Economics helps assess how to make better choices by providing a consolidated background to make decisions. The decisions can be concerning investing money, measuring the cost and benefits and attending a graduate school.
• It helps get a job and enhances chances of a successful career: A degree in economics enables a student to pursue a successful career. The various forms of career options range from an economist, consultant, and stockbroker to that of a data analyst. The other available job options comprise credit analyst, market research analyst, business development etc (Mitchell et al. 2019). Besides this, a candidate pursuing economics can be a better decision-maker. In addition, it also helps in enhancing vocabulary, which helps in understanding the dynamics of market structure and how they can be applied to the organisation.
• It helps in acquiring unique skills that employers need: Pursuing a career in economics helps acquire a wide plethora of skills that can be applied to real-life situations. Compared to employees from other streams, an employee with a sound knowledge of economics has unique thinking, communication skills, and analytical and problem-solving skills that most employers prefer (Mitchell et al. 2019). Firms and industries of all sizes have to depend on economics, whether for product research or product development, methods of advertising and pricing strategies. Students pursuing economics can choose from various career options: agriculture, banking, manufacturing, and consultancy.
• It helps decide on personal purchasing habits: By studying economics, a student can gain insight into an important concept such as the Willingness to pay or the WTP. This refers to the maximum amount of money a consumer decides to pay for certain goods and services. Knowing about the same concept assists in decoding personal purchasing behaviour and enables one to make a decision that is wise enough.
• Studying economics enhances the possibility of getting jobs in another profession: Other major professions are vastly complemented by studying economics, instead of the business majors such as Finance, Accounting, and Marketing, non-business majors such as Computer Science and Journalism employees students who come from an economics background.
• Learning economics helps develop a unique ocean of knowledge: Pursuing a degree in economics can be extremely rewarding as it offers various learning opportunities. It assists in opening a wide range of career options (Mitchell et al. 2019). Due to this reason, a student can explore questions that are prime to the world economy, ranging from what results in an economic crisis to how wealth is distributed all across the globe. In this sense, economics is considered a unique and outstanding subject as it covers various areas such as psychology, politics, mathematics, sociology, international relations and business.
• It helps develop an international perspective: Economics influences the world we reside in. It aids in acquiring in-depth knowledge about international and domestic perspectives, comprising the present and historic theory giving an effective insight into how the different cultures ad the society interact (Mitchell et al. 2019). To comprehend international corporations, gaining an elaborate concept of the world economy is the path to success.
• It helps in learning to leverage economic tools: A student pursuing economics gets to learn a lot of theories and economic tools which can be further applied in effective decision-making (Mankiw, 2020). A popular tool in economics named conjoint analysis helps in knowing customers’ demand for a certain product. For example, an employee working at Apple Inc needs to know what part of the smartwatch shall be improved. In this regard, a conjoint analysis helps in knowing the developments that the customers care about and whether it is worth the money and the time of the company.

Top Universities in the UK for Learning Economics

Studying economics at any of the esteemed universities in the UK enables a student to get accustomed to the global economy and how it impacts social perspective and wealth. The UK provides a home to some of the reputed universities that impart education in economics, and studying in one of them helps develop the significant business skills that get traversed to whatever career path the students choose.

The Department of Economics at the University of St Andrews is considered one of the best in Scotland and the UK. Graduates from this university opted for various successful government, banking, consultancy finance, research and public policy careers. The courses offered by the university are macroeconomics, microeconomics, and econometrics and specialised degrees are also offered in International Relations that are opted for by most students.

Since 1920, the University of Oxford has been teaching economics and has stayed committed to teaching and conducting economics research. The most liked course in economics at the University of Oxford includes economics and management, which embody the various elements of social sciences, economics and management. The economics department at the University of Cambridge is regarded as one of the best. At this university, this subject can be combined with management or law, and the faculty members have been rewarded for their ardent mentoring. The University of Warwick also excels in imparting education in economics to many students. In addition, the current and future needs of the students pursuing economics. University College London, or UCL, provides a two-year master’s degree program in economics that offers a quantitative approach that helps in comprehending the complex and modern global economy.

Complexities indulged in learning economics

Most people find it difficult to learn economics, and this is because, for many, economics needs to possess more detailed information. In addition, the presence of maths and graphs makes learning economics extremely cumbersome. One of the plausible reasons is that students find it difficult to interpret graphs, and most of the issues arise in comprehending what a “curve” exactly denotes. For instance, why the supply curve slopes up or why the slope of the demand gets down and again to the right make it difficult for the students to interpret. In addition, students need help visualising the graphs in terms of combining quantities and prices (Mankiw, 2020). There are students who do not prefer doing maths, and when they encounter the same in economics, they lose interest. Before trying to do maths, it is necessary for a student to understand what is happening first before attempting to do Maths. Students who develop a clear concept of the subject matter can interpret graphs and solve maths. In addition, citing real-life examples while teaching any economics chapter is deemed necessary. This helps make the subject matter more appealing and interesting for the students, and thus, they develop their habits of studying economics.

References

• Gwartney, J.D., Stroup, R.L., Sobel, R.S. and Macpherson, D.A., 2021. Economics: private & public choice. Cengage Learning.
• Kremer, M., Rao, G. and Schilbach, F., 2019. Behavioral development economics. In Handbook of Behavioral Economics: Applications and Foundations 1 (Vol. 2, pp. 345-458). North-Holland.
• Mankiw, N.G., 2020. Essentials of economics. Cengage learning.
• Mukhamedov, G., Khodjamkulov, U., Shofkorov, A. and Makhmudov, K., 2020. Pedagogical education cluster: content and form. ISJ Theoretical & Applied Science, 1(81), pp.250-257.
• Mitchell, W., Wray, L.R. and Watts, M., 2019. Macroeconomics. Bloomsbury Publishing.

FAQS

1. What do you mean by economics?
   Ans: Economics relates to the study of scarcity, or rather, it can be regarded as how people allocate and use resources and respond to incentives. In other words, economics can also be related to the study of decision-making. It comprises topics such as wealth and finance. It is also referred to as a broad discipline that assists in understanding historical trends and interpreting the happenings in the global economy.
2. Define macroeconomics and microeconomics
   Ans: Microeconomics refers to the study of business decisions and individuals by focusing on the demand and supply while determining the price levels. On the contrary, macroeconomics focuses on the economy as a whole while determining its nature and course. It is an analytical tool for formulating fiscal and economic policy.
3. State any two advantages of learning economics.
   Ans: The two advantages of learning economics are discussed below as follows:
   It helps in better decision-making, and this is evident from the willingness to pay or the WTP, which determines the maximum amount a consumer will pay for a certain amount of goods and services.
   It increases the chances of getting better jobs for the economics student because they are adept in critical thinking and know how to leverage economic tools such as conjoint analysis.
4. Name three universities in the UK that are leading experts in teaching economics.
   Ans: The three universities in the UK that are leading experts in imparting education in economics are the University of St Andrews, the University of Cambridge and the University of Warwick. Students who graduate from this university in economics can seek great career options.
5. Assess the challenge in learning economics.
   Ans: Learning economics entails various challenges as economics has yet to be known to have detailed information. Many have concluded that the presence of maths and graphs has made learning economics very difficult. It is admitted that students cannot interpret graphs and maths because of the complexity they embody. In addition, they need help understanding why the supply curve rises, and the demand curve rises down.

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