[squall2072]

Next week I start my first lectures at Uni. I'm studying Economics, Finance and Banking... I was just wondering how many Economists we have here on head-fi and what should I expect from the course? Also I'm thinking about taking a year out working during the course to gain some experience do you think its a good idea? finally did you enjoy it and your job now?

Team Economics

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by squall2072 Next week I start my first lectures at Uni. I'm studying Economics, Finance and Banking... I was just wondering how many Economists we have here on head-fi and what should I expect from the course? Also I'm thinking about taking a year out working during the course to gain some experience do you think its a good idea? finally did you enjoy it and your job now?

My primary degree was in business administration, with a minor in Economics. I'm not sure how the structure of the curriculum in the UK compares to the US, but more than likely you'll start off with an introductory microeconomics course, which will deal with the laws of supply and demand and how they affect the pricing of goods. There is a decent description of some of the concepts in the wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microeconomics. You'll probably also have introductory accounting and finance courses, and probably at least some form of business-oriented math class (more advanced economics classes usually involve at least some understanding of calculus).

My career went a different path, so I have never actually worked in the field in Economics, but the basic principles of economics, accounting and finance have often been useful to me.

As far as taking a year off to work, it is not a bad idea. I often wish that I could return to school now, because I think that I would get much more out of it with the perspective gained from over 10 years out in the real world. Well, at least I would get more out of the academic side. I probably would not be as active on the, ahem, social side as I once was.

 

[braillediver]

In some small way we should all be Economists.

Walter Williams Rules in my book.


Mitch

 

[Claus1100xx]

I am an Econ major. It's really an applied math degree with a little bit of theory thrown in. The more advanced your courses get the less theory and the more math.
I am starting my doctorate next year in either Economics or Finance. Can't beat getting paid in order to stay in school for 5 more years

If you major in Economics I'd strongly suggest looking into a math minor. It will pay off handsomely, especially if you want to move on to bigger things.

 

[mulveling]

My dad was an economics professor at Georgia State. I did great in the piddly 3 undergrad econ courses I took at GA Tech (macro, micro, and advanced micro - I think), but never pursued it further. I was good at math, which made the econ math - and econ in general - cake. Be good at math. Take the real math courses, the stuff math majors would take. You'll never have a problem with econ classes if you can survive tough math classes.

I guess I can't help ya too much, but good luck!

 

[renesis_au]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claus1100xx I am an Econ major. It's really an applied math degree with a little bit of theory thrown in. The more advanced your courses get the less theory and the more math. I am starting my doctorate next year in either Economics or Finance. Can't beat getting paid in order to stay in school for 5 more years If you major in Economics I'd strongly suggest looking into a math minor. It will pay off handsomely, especially if you want to move on to bigger things.

Doing an econ major now. I've realised that too with what I'm studying, there tends to be more maths and at the same time the theory that is tied in becomes more complex. I don't really have a natural gift for maths so this year it has been quite challenging and I've not been really able to keep up with it. I'm sure the maths I'm doing is pretty basic, but for first year we hardly did maths at all, now we are knee deep in lagrangeans are optimizing over time.

That may have scared you, but the intuition and knowledge you get from pursuing studies in economics really helps you interpret what you study in business as well as in finance.

 

[pabbi1]

My undergraduate is in Economics and Finance, with a minor in Accounting. My graduate degree is in Accounting... which became necessary since it was really difficult to get a real job with an Economics degree.

If you plan a Banking / Wall Street type career, definitely go the math route (with Mathematical Economics / Econometrics), and get some systems background (Statistical modeling, SAS, etc). You must be able to handle mathematical models, all done with COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) systems (like SAS).

If you can get an internship at a bank or finance house of some sort, by all means, but do it around (not instead of) your class work. Even though we have a Federal Reserve Bank where I live (a MAJOR LEAGUE franchise), those type slots are reserved for top Eco schools in this country (U of Chicago, Stanford, Harvard, etc) or those with political connections.

Many Fortune corporations, especially multinational manufacturing companies, have Economic analysis departments, but a Masters / PhD is a minimum, with some additional research / pub cred, and quite often, much of the long term stuff is farmed out to local university profs, consulting on the side for some coin.

All that aside, Money & Banking is the heart of understanding the tools of Monetary policy, the underlying current of all banking.

 

[squall2072]

Glad to see theres a few of us.

I took Economics at A-level so I know the basics. I also took AS maths but I wasn't all that good at it because all my maths teachers have been a joke. I have no luck with maths teachers at all. I don't know what the options are when i complete the course or even during it. But I know I can pick things that I want to study from it. Also I'm thinking about doing Japanese as a language on the side... worth doing?

Are/Did you enjoy the course?

 

[pabbi1]

Loved it... this is where Economics meets Politics, and how public banking policy affects the Economy as a whole. Now, it is probably wildly dependent on the country involved, but in the US, that is THE most relevant economics class to a real world job, excluding pure research.

But, oddly, I loved Econometrics more, though it is almost all calculus and matrix manipulation... well, and History of Economic Theory, where I met Thorstein Veblen... sorta.

 

[Claus1100xx]

Well econometrics is the basis of economic study. Without econometric you don't have the tools to do any meaningful research. Everything before econometrics is simply spitting back models and theories. After econometrics it starts to get interesting. You can finally do your own calculations and form your own ideas based on your data.
Also without any linear algebra it is difficult to get into the more complex models. You have to really get comfortable mainpulating matrices, evaluating regressions, and interpreting them. Plus once you get into publishing you have to start defending your reasearch. That can get quite heated and intimidating.

 

[Claus1100xx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by squall2072 Team Economics

HAHA we have a team now?

 

[MrSlacker]

I am not economist just yet, but working on it. I am not sure what my major will be but i want to end up dealing with money/businesses (sp?) . Just a question, did any of you hear about Academy Of Finance ?

 

[squall2072]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claus1100xx HAHA we have a team now?

Oh yes!

Your team leader! lol

Sounds as though things will become more challenging...but that will keep it interesting.

I don't know where I should head for after the degree...what job to take ect...an ideas? I need something to fund this upgraditis

 

[elmoe]

I have a diploma in Economics, a license to be precise.

 

[Claus1100xx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSlacker I am not economist just yet, but working on it. I am not sure what my major will be but i want to end up dealing with money/businesses (sp?) . Just a question, did any of you hear about Academy Of Finance ?

never heard of it. no idea about its reputation. where is it even located?

Quote:

Originally Posted by squall2072 Sounds as though things will become more challenging...but that will keep it interesting. I don't know where I should head for after the degree...what job to take ect...an ideas? I need something to fund this upgraditis

I'm in a similar boat. I don't think economics is as applicable right aways as a business degree. I think it is a great preparation if you want to get into grad school. It's a much more rigorous program than business and will definitely prepare you for grad school.
Lots of people move on into law school or get an mba. A few crazy idiots (me included) move on to get their doctorate. If you want to make big bucks - I don't know if Econ will do that for you. An MBA has a higher starting salary out of school than an econ doctorate.
Finance that's a different story. There you can make big bucks even as a prof, because you always have the opportunity to go to wallstreet and make even more.

Right out of school, just with a bachelors, I'm not sure if these degrees are applicable at all. I think doing a business degree in that case is the better route to take.

Also internships semm to be scarce. The Fed and other institutions (think tanks) like to hire grad students and only have limited space for undergrad. There are some opportunities though.

With the doctorate you always have the advantage of getting paid from your second year on just for going to school and teaching some low level classes. That should be fun and fund some upgrades. Not an Orpheus style upgrade but it works on a smaller scale.

Publishing is a PITA though. I am not a big writer, but I like the research. Defending your papers and going through revisions (sometimes totally demolishing your progress) can be super frustrating.

Make sure you decide early enough which route you want to take, so you can take courses that will prepare you for whatever you choose.

These are my opinions and experiences, so please take them with a grain of salt. Everyone forms their own opinions and has different experiences - so it is difficult to generalize everything.