is economics worth majoring in.

Discussion in 'Economics' started by mags29464, Sep 10, 2012.

  1. I agree Econometrics is a better choice.

    Or Financial Economics.
     
    #11     Sep 11, 2012
  2. when I was going to school they said if you were going to get an economics degree you might as well also get a math degree because they were one and the same.

    If I was doing it it all over again yes, I would get an economics degree.

    don't pay any attention to emg. He thinks if you get a bachelors degree you can become a customers man for J. D. Edwards.

    you can become a customers man if you can sell a vacumn cleaner

    math, economics, wouldn't worry about it too much. If you are worried about getting a job you will never make it as a trader anyway.

    But if I had it to do all over again, I would have got the economics degree since that is what I am interested in more than math.

    The funny thing is, when I got my first real job, two of us had music degrees, one had a math degree and one was a former airline traffic controller who got fired by Reagan and the other was a Vietnamese fighter pilot who got shot down. They didn't give a shit back then, because everything was changing so fast they figured by the time the University finally figured it out it was already obsolete.
     
    #12     Sep 11, 2012
  3. right now Im thinking my course is gonna be economics major with a math minor. then i want to get a masters in finance. I think that way I cover all my bases and should have a nice diverse understanding of markets and economies...

    Credentials are as much about which institution as it is which major but a "job" wouldn't be a bad thing in case things go boom...

    my school doesn't offer an econometrics major, theres an econometrics course within the economics major but theres no standalone econometrics degree..
     
    #13     Sep 11, 2012
  4. yeah that sounds good. Finance is probably the most practical, the other two are kind of esoteric.

    They actually don't teach you much in college, but it shows an employer you have the ability to eat shit.
     
    #14     Sep 11, 2012
  5. Unless you are a genius at programming, don't get a Computer Science degree since most programming is being outsourced to India.

    If you get an Economics degree, its still pretty worthless unless you are going to then get something else like an MBA or go to law school.

    Look for a career where you can make good money and that it is a growing field.

     
    #15     Sep 12, 2012
  6. achilles28

    achilles28

    Ya, what's that? Department of Homeland Security? Government bureaucrat?
     
    #16     Sep 12, 2012
  7. Visaria

    Visaria

    Soros was a student at the LSE in the fifties. Economics wasn't as mathematically inclined then, much more of a philosophical type of education.

    I would avoid doing economics now as a major. Most of it is nonsense, using ridiculous assumptions to make mathematical model of the economy .

    A degree in maths, statistics, computer science, operational research is v useful. A degree in Actuarial science is far better. A degree in the physical sciences is good too if you have the brains.

    If you did a degree in economics which taught the Austrian way, now that might be useful.
     
    #17     Sep 12, 2012
  8. yes, you are right, I was surprised to learn that the school of science looks at economics and pshychology the same way, in that they don't really consider either of them to be a true science
     
    #18     Sep 12, 2012
  9. morganist

    morganist Guest

    Econometrics is the use of mathematics for economic application. If you want to do a economics degree but worry whether it will be seen as valuable then you could do econometrics which is seen as a maths discipline this would open up doors.
     
    #19     Sep 12, 2012
  10. jsp326

    jsp326

    +1. Depending what you do, I'm not sure if any of this will help you trade or manage money. But things like OR or Actuarial courses could teach you how to make or save money in the real world, unlike 95%+ of academic economics.

    As for credentials, you could get a degree in anything and then get an RIA, CFA, etc. Again, it depends what you want to do. I suppose Finance would be the best route to prepare for such certification, as you'd learn the routine garbage like MPT which would repeat itself in the CFA coursework.
     
    #20     Sep 12, 2012