Econ
How to Become an Economist
Econ is short for economics. What many schools don't realize is that there are too many economic graduates. Should you decide to become an economist, plan on getting good at programming a computer and being good at statistical analysis. These are two very important skills economists need. In addition, you will need a Phd from an ivy league university. Anything short of this, and you may be working for ten dollars an hour doing manual labor. Now, that would be a shame.
Econometrics
Econometrics is a valuable skill for an economist. Econometrics is the method of using statistical analysis to come up with analytical predictive models. The skill of econometrics is extremely complicated. Some of the modeling techniques are pretty brutal. Still, the econometric models do not always produce the desired results.
Econ Ethics
Economics is concerned with ethics. There are normative questions about economics. For example, is it fair for a CEO to make fifty million dollars a year while the lower level workers get three dollars an hour and have no medical care? Capitalism brings innovations and efficiency, but it is also brutal in choosing winners and losers. Some people become fabulously wealthy and others are living on the street in a cardboard box. Does it seem fair? The idea is the greatest good for the greatest number. Many supporters of capitalism feel that the benefits of capitalism outweigh the bad. There are some losers and that is unfortunate, but it is just part of what has to happen for capitalism to operate well. Some critics feel the system is extremely unfair, from the get go, and that many bright and talented people are not given a shot an anything. These people feel like the CEO that makes fifty million dollars a year should have his/her pay reduced and that the lower level workers should get paid a lot more.
Marxism and Feminism
Many economists take the normative approach that solutions to capitalism need to be found. Mathematically, a planned economy will do better than one in which all the individual actors do not work together. However, in real life, the profit incentive must stay in place or people will refuse to work. That could be a good thing, but since everyone wants more stuff, then it becomes a goal of everyone, in society, to keep everyone working hard.
Most of the Marxists and Feminists just want an equal playing field. They think that the schools should be equal in quality. They think that women should be payed the same rate as men for the same job. Marxists want people to find solidarity instead of focusing their life to money. The human becomes a commodity and that is alienating and depressing. The goal of marxism and feminism is to liberate people. People should be given the chances to follow their dreams and create true abundance. Working all the time in something you do not like, is not considered a great life and yet almost two thirds of all people in the United States are in that boat. Americans are now popping more antidepressents than ever.
Ironically, communistic countries that have endorsed Marxism have taken away many of the peoples freedoms. The real problem, with marxism, is that central planning requires a strong concentration of power at the top. Since people are weak, they give into temptation to become wealthy at the expense of the citizens. Capitalism has more systems of checks and balances and that allows the country to perform better in the face of greed. That is why capitalism has been so resilient.
Econ by John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes was a millionaire and famous economist. His idea is that the government should step in and spend money to prevent recessions and depressions. During the great depression many people still thought that markets were infallible and the ultimate way to go. People and society were resistant to pull away from markets. However, in due time, people became more and more desperate. People died from lack of food and proper medical care. People started looking for a way out of the misery and didn't care much what it was.
What John Maynard Keynes did was come out with a theory where the government spends money or creates stimulus during recessions and depression. In other words, government spending can help regulate markets. Since that time, that is exactly what the government has done. It has worked pretty well, but the government is getting into huge deficits from all their stimulus spending. According to Keynes, in the long run, we are all dead anyway. He admits that his theory is only good to help mitigate short term losses and that it isn't a good long term strategy. Basically, nobody knows how to manage the long term effects or what they will be. We only hope that the future will continue to be bright.
Adam Smith and Econ
Adam Smith wrote the famous book called The Invisible Hand. The idea is that each person does what is best for himself or herself. If each person does this, the society, as a whole, will prosper. The freedom of each individual person adds up to make a whole congenial society. The fact that everything works out so well from individual actors working for themselves is caused by the invisible hand. In other words, it just works out well doing it that way. Many of the ideas in capitalist society today are based on theories and ideas from the book of Adam Smith.
The Creative Spirit
One of the single biggest driving forces of the American economy is the creative spirit. Americans believe that if they can just get one or two good ideas that they can become wealthy. And, it is still easier to do that in America than anywhere else. As proof, many Americans that were born without privilege have become wealthy. In addition, the United States has produced many more innovations than most countries. Most foreign nations are very impressed with the ability of Americans to be creative and innovative. Part of the ability may lie in the culture. Americans are told to be independent and pull themselves up by their bootstraps. In many other cultures, the feeling is one of working as a team. Each team member is respected and language is more passive with a strong respect for honor and to avoid conflict. In American life, there is much conflict and it is even welcomed at many firms. Management is always looking for a better way. However, what Americans have found out is that many of the other cultures are better at producing high quality. The tightly knit group focus can more easily maintain quality.
W. Edwards Deming and Econ
W. Edwards Deming had a great background in statistics and physics. He was not an economist and yet he was one of the most valued economists of his day. He is credited with helping the Japanese produce such high quality vehicles. He went to the United States car companies first and was turned away. However, Japan listened to him and was able to produce great quality by listening to his advice using statistical methods to handle quality control.
In 1993, Deming wrote his final book called The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education. Deming also wrote Advanced Engineering as Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position, in 1982.
The one US car company that eventually listened to Deming was Ford. They came to Deming in the early eighties and ,by the mid eighties, Ford was the most profitable American car manufacturer. Recently, Ford was the only US car manufacturer that didn't take bailout money. Ford has seen increasing sales as they have succeeded at producing higher levels of quality (source: Wikipedia).
If you want to go into economics, you can learn a lot from W. Edwards Deming and Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke. All of these men have great backgrounds in math and statstics and not necessarily in economics. In addition, Alan Greenspan got his start as a computer programmer. It is recommended that anyone going into economics be in the upper third of their graduating class, at least.
Studying Econ
If you study econ, realize that it isn't that bad. It is a powerful science with far reaching effects. As Mr. Deming was able to help transform the Japanese car industry and John Maynard Keynes was able to relieve the effects of recessions and depression, so you you find ways to make a difference with the study of economics – The dismal science.
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