I had the same dilema a few years ago... I was between economics and finance... in the end I choose all of the above, I´ve taken most of the courses on finances + several advanced maths from economics, as well as micro and macro 2-3... that gives me an understanding of supply and demand far greater than any buss mayor... but it also gives me a down to earth application for my knowledge. Economics tend to be a bit philosofical... great stuff for thinking and a great point of view of the interrelation of everything around us..., but it´s not so good for applying it in an actual job to everyday life. It doesnt have such practical applications as money management, instead of that you learn how to manipulate the monetary supply of a country in order to alter the inflationary trend... which is cool, but is not something you´re gonna be doing on an everyday basis, unless you sit at the FED board... So my advice is 1 learn to tolerate the accounting classes... I hated them too... they come in handy later when you want to know if your accountant is fckng you... 2 take the classes that appeal to you the most from both careers, if you are even considering economics, then you probably like academic challenges... in that case you´ll love econometrics.
Economists either teach or work at think tanks. Understanding how GDP is comprised is not really going to help you scalp the S&P futures lol.... Leave economics for professors, politcal advisors and think tankers who put out meaningless papers
BINGO! If trading can be taught by an academic, then we would have a lot of weatlhy trading professors... and we do not. Every professor I knew who taught someting related to trading spent more time on academic and theoretical papers for publications in Journals rather than real trading.
While the memory is still fresh in my mind here is my suggestion. If you really must make a choice, go into finance. Also, a few classes in stats or advanced calculus would not be a bad idea. You will still have to take the basic economics classes anyway, which is probably all you will ever need to know on the subject.(supply/demand, federal reserve, money supply, interest rates, leading/lagging indicators, etc.) With finance, you will get a more detailed look into the various financial instruments. Now whether that's of any use to you in trading is another question.
Neither will benefit your trading. A course in Logic will be helpful... and Discipline, if there is such a thing.
Finance so that you can get a job if the trading doesnt suit you in the end. Take some good statistics and probability courses as they will help you most if you are trying to understand systematic results.
I agree finance is better for a 9-5 job if trading doesn't suit you. Consider a BS in economics rather than a BA. With the bachelor of science, you'll get the calc, stats, programming, intro accounting and intro finance along with in-depth economics. With a Bachelor of arts in finance, you wont get the programming courses or advanced math and statistics without taking those courses as electives. I'm not sure how many schools offer a BS in finance, but that would be money.
Economics by itself is a scandal. If you take both, eco and fin, then you're okay. Finance by itself is great. but its sooooooo boring.