what is the most interesting thing you have learned in this economics course?

by Ms. Phyllis King 8 min read

The three most important things I learned in Economics Class The first important concept I learned was the ‘goals of monetary policy’. The primary goal of a central bank is price stability (low and stable inflation). Some of the Feds (short for the Federal Reserve Bank) other concerns are: • high employment • economic growth • stability of financial markets • interest rate stability • stability in foreign exchange markets The Fed desires to maintain high employment because the ...

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What is the most important thing an economics course can teach?

The single most important thing an economics course can teach you. As the economy changes, it demands new models, modifications of old ones, and more creative applications. Behavioral economics gained momentum after the crisis because it explores how human decision making is not always as rational as traditional models predict.

How many things do you need to know about economics?

Now, because we know that not everyone has the opportunity or desire to become an econ major, we have created an infographic that illustrates 12 things you should know about economics. It’s kind of like a cheat sheet for Econ 101.

Should we teach more economic history?

But the traditional economics taught to undergraduates held up better than many people realize. In order to help today’s students understand the new economic order, we don’t need to throw out existing models. Instead we need to teach more economic history.

What is the importance of studying macroeconomics?

It’s kind of like a cheat sheet for Econ 101. Have a look. Macroeconomics is the study of the economy as a whole. It focuses on aggregate numbers and data for entire countries. Thus, it provides a broad perspective.

What the one thing you learned in economics?

In Economics you learn about supply and demand, perfect and imperfect competition, taxation, international trade, price controls, monetary policy, exchange rates, interest rates, unemployment and inflation amongst many other topics to understand individual markets, the aggregate economy and government policies.

Why is it interesting to learn economics?

More broadly, an economics degree helps prepare you for careers that require numerical, analytical and problem solving skills – for example in business planning, marketing, research and management. Economics helps you to think strategically and make decisions to optimise the outcome.

What do you find interesting about economics?

The fact that economics is a social science, one that involves people and their choices, makes economics complicated but also very interesting. Because economics provides a rigorous way of thinking about trade-offs, incentives, and costs and benefits, it has many real-world applications.

What is the most important thing in economics?

Scarcity. Everyone has an understanding of scarcity whether they are aware of it or not because everyone has experienced the effects of scarcity. Scarcity explains the basic economic problem that the world has limited—or scarce—resources to meet seemingly unlimited wants.

How can economics help you in your life?

Economics affects our daily lives in both obvious and subtle ways. From an individual perspective, economics frames many choices we have to make about work, leisure, consumption and how much to save. Our lives are also influenced by macro-economic trends, such as inflation, interest rates and economic growth.

What do you learn in economics in high school?

Students go on to explore both micro- and macroeconomics, the laws of supply and demand, and important economic policies. A chapter dedicated to global economies helps students understand concepts like international trade, currency and how exchange rates work, and globalization.

How can we make economics interesting for students?

1:445:03What's the best way to teach economics? - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipI can assign a graph to my students everyone's shown me what happens to the demand. And studentsMoreI can assign a graph to my students everyone's shown me what happens to the demand. And students will draw that shift on nearpod. And then submit it and i can see all their graphs.

What do you understand about economics?

Economics is a social science concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. It studies how individuals, businesses, governments, and nations make choices about how to allocate resources.

Why is studying economics important essay?

Economics is used in almost all aspects of life, and is a big part of many of the decisions that we make everyday. Economics is such an important area to study in that it helps to understand societal and global affairs, helps us to become better informed voters, and much more.

How can I learn more about economics?

How to learn economics without schoolingWatch instructional lectures. ... Complete massive open online courses (MOOC) ... Read economics books. ... Research economics articles. ... Discuss concepts with economics professionals. ... Join learning communities.

What are the three things that I learned in economics?

The three most important things I learned in Economics Class The first important concept I learned was the ‘goals of monetary policy’ . The primary goal of a central bank is price stability (low and stable inflation). Some of the Feds (short for the Federal Reserve Bank) other concerns are: • high employment • economic growth • stability of financial markets • interest rate stability • stability in foreign exchange markets The Fed desires to maintain high employment because the condition of high unemployment, the alternative, creates idle workers and idle resources. This leads to closed factories, unused equipment and materials, ultimately decreasing our GDP. Now, let me further explain that the goal for high unemployment is not an unemployment level of zero, rather a level above zero where labor demand equals labor supply. This is known as the ‘natural rate of unemployment’. Economic growth focuses on encouraging firms to invest or encouraging people to save, which in turn creates funds for firms to invest. It runs hand-in-hand with the goal of high employment because in order for firms to be comfortable investing in assets such as plants and equipment, unemployment must be low. Hereby, the people and resources will be available to spur economic growth. If financial markets are instable, it will lead to sharp contraction of economic activity. For example, in this most recent financial crisis, a deterioration in financial institutions’ balance sheets, along with asset price decline and interest rate hikes increased market uncertainty thus, worsening what is called ‘adverse selection and moral hazard’. This is a serious dilemma created before business transactions occur which information is misleading and promotes doing business with the ‘most undesirable’ clients by a financial institution. In turn, these ‘most undesirable’ clients later engage in undesirable behavior. All of this leads to a decline in economic activity, more adverse selection and moral hazards, a banking crisis and further declining in economic activity. Ultimately, the banking crisis came and unanticipated price level increases and even further declines in economic activity. Interest-rate stability is very important for the Fed to control because otherwise consumers, like you and I, will be reluctant to buy things like houses due to the fluctuation which will make it harder to plan for the future. The value of the US dollar relevant to other currencies is a major consideration for the Federal Reserve. If they prevent large changes in the value of the dollar, firms and individuals can comfortably plan ahead to purchase or sell goods abroad.

Why is economic growth important?

Economic growth focuses on encouraging firms to invest or encouraging people to save, which in turn creates funds for firms to invest. It runs hand-in-hand with the goal of high employment because in order for firms to be comfortable investing in assets such as plants and equipment, unemployment must be low.

What is the difference between macroeconomics and microeconomics?

Thus, it provides a broad perspective. Microeconomics on the other hand is the study of small economic units. It scrutinizes individuals and their decision making from a close perspective. Even though the two branches cover different areas of economics for the most part, they are highly interrelated.

Why is economic growth important?

Economic growth is necessary to satisfy people’s desire for an ever increasing standard of living, to redistribute wealth, and to advance new technologies. It is measured by the change in GDP, the total value of all final goods and services produced within an economy over a set period of time.

How do central banks influence the economy?

Central banks or currency boards can influence a country’s economy by adjusting the supply of money. They do this by buying or selling government bonds or by modifying the interest rate. An expansionary monetary policy will boost economic activity and growth, whereas a contractionary policy will reduce it.

What are externalities in economics?

Externalities are the positive or negative consequences of economic activities experienced by unrelated third parties. They can arise either on the production or on the consumption side. In most cases, externalities result in market failure that can only be avoided by imposing some kind of regulation to internalize them.

What happens to the marginal utility of consuming an additional unit?

At some point, the marginal utility of consuming an additional unit may even become negative (i.e. completely unfavorable). This concept is often used by companies to set prices.

Why do people have to make choices?

They have to make choices due to scarce resources. As a result, they can’t get everything they want, so they have to pick certain things over others. Opportunity costs describe the value of the next best alternatives that are given up during this process in order to get something else.

Why is economics education important?

Economics education, at all levels, aims to offer an overview of different models and how to apply them. But understanding the models takes hard work and often some math, which can be abstract and unpleasant. This is precisely why an economics education is so valuable.

What happened to economics in the last 20 years?

Two extraordinary things happened to the economics profession in the last 20 years. Economics became the most popular course at many universities and the financial crisis seriously damaged the field’s credibility. No wonder there’s a major rethink underway on how economics is taught.

Why is statistics important?

Right now statistics is important, but as a tool to help understand and validate theory. It is not taught until students are further along in their economics education. Smith thinks it should be the other way around in order to prevent students from putting too much weight on one theory.

Why did behavioral economics gain momentum after the crisis?

Behavioral economics gained momentum after the crisis because it explores how human decision making is not always as rational as traditional models predict. But it does not require throwing out old models; economists often merely tweak existing ones to accommodate a range of human behaviors.

Who demanded economics be redefined?

A few years ago, a few British students demanded economics be redefined in its scope and methods. A write-up of their demands contains a forward by eminent Bank of England economist Andrew Haldane and it provoked a serious discussion among educators.

Do we need to throw out existing economic models?

In order to help today’s students understand the new economic order, we don’t need to throw out existing models. Instead we need to teach more economic history.

Is Chicago Journal an economics journal?

While the students have some valid criticisms, their sloppy, inaccurate portrayal of mainstream economic theory (they also call out the mainstream, top-tiered “Chicago Journal” which isn’t an economics journal ) suggests they’ve barely studied the subject they think needs radical change.

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