Economics Questions

Re: Getting an economics degree without being indoctrinated

SkepticalMetal — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 00:01:10 GMT

George Mason University.

Re: Getting an economics degree without being indoctrinated

Atreides99 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 23:59:21 GMT

Yeah i've been getting IT careers and accounting are great ideas for awhile now. So I'm thinking I might do an Information Systems degree since that has some accounting and business as well as programming software engineering etc. But I may pack an accounting minor onto it in the future or get a certificate in network security if its convenient.

@Wheylous- Whats a GMU?

Re: Getting an economics degree without being indoctrinated

Esuric — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 02:27:32 GMT

A B.S. in economics hasn't done much for me. The stuff I learned in accounting turned out to be much more marketable in the labor market.

Re: Getting an economics degree without being indoctrinated

Wheylous — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 22:45:26 GMT

If you're actively trying to get a pro-market biased education, go with GMU.

Otherwise, learn the stuff in school and compare it to other authors outside of school.

Lastly, I recommend a Computer Science degree. Jobs are offered like hotcakes.

Re: Getting an economics degree without being indoctrinated

Friedmanite — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 22:22:32 GMT

Employers will not care about your economic philosophy. They're only interested in the skills you bring to the table. So perhaps to your dismay, the quantitative courses like econometrics, mathematical optimization, empirical finance, etc. will be most helpful for your job prospects.

Re: Getting an economics degree without being indoctrinated

Atreides99 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 22:05:15 GMT

this university from what I'm reading about their program seems to appreciate Friedman and Hayek and Adam smith so I may be exposed to those guys who I think are cool.

Re: Getting an economics degree without being indoctrinated

Atreides99 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 22:02:56 GMT

Well there is one econometrics class I have to take (I'm going for a BS). I would probably go to another university if I decided to to do graduate studies. Do you think even a basic econometrics would be worthless?

Re: Getting an economics degree without being indoctrinated

Aristophanes — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 21:46:38 GMT

Well, expect mathematics (especially in macro and more and more the closer you get to graduation) and some stats and in your public health classes, if you take anything about taxation or regulatory issues, to expect the Bentham/Coase approach to social welfare (the "social margin"). Expect Keynes in banking, your textbooks will probably come from an adviser to one of the Fed banks.

Graduate studies seem oriented towards econometrics which means experiments requiring the very concepts Austrians abhor. But they more than likely are the ones getting pretty high paying jobs...

I never once was directed towards or exposed to Friedman in any of my economics classes. I didn't end up pursuing economics.

Re: Getting an economics degree without being indoctrinated

Atreides99 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 21:31:52 GMT

Well I once saw a video explain different business cycles and he proposed that each of them is good to understand. Would something from the keynesian school or chicago school or neoclassical and so on in something like say a macro or micro economics book still be useful?

Re: Getting an economics degree without being indoctrinated

Neodoxy — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 21:09:28 GMT

Do what I'm doing, just understand what is being said. If you can't see any fallacies in what is being said, then why assume that something is wrong with what is being said? If you do find problems with what is being said then consider it "a way that a group of people think about an issue", not the truth of the matter.

This is good advice with most issues.

Getting an economics degree without being indoctrinated

Atreides99 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 21:04:45 GMT

I think an economics degree would be a good flexible degree to get and I am currently reading works by rothbard and watching seminars online about economics and economic history. This is a minnesota state school. What I am mostly worried about is what the macroeconomics courses are going to end up being like.