<p>I was reading the major description and it seems fascinating.</p>
<p>Why did you choose this major over Political Science? How math heavy is it? Are the "recommended" Calculus classes really necessary?</p>
<p>How realistic would it be to double major in Political Economy, despite only taking up to Statistics? I have never taken an Economics class, either. However, I am planning to take Econ 1 at Berkeley during the summer. What should I expect?</p>
<p>I know, I know, lots of questions. Any help/insight would be greatly appreciated. :) Thank you.</p>
<p>well it would definitely delay your graduation time… but its not a capped major so you should be able to declare it once u have to pre-req’s done…</p>
<p>I’m a PolyEcon major and I fell in love with it when I read the description for the first time. It’s math heavy in the sense that economics is math heavy. So, there will definitely be some math involved. A friend of mine at Cal right now told me that the Econ 100A and Econ 100B classes can be brutal. Those are two of the core upper division courses. He told me that they can be very math intensive and require a lot of time for reading. This coming from a guy who has a 3.5, so he’s no dummy. In any case, I’m up for the challenge!</p>
<p>I’m also a Political econ major. I’ve researched some of the econ courses offered at Berkeley and found that some of them are not that math heavy. For instance intermediate econ in IAS does not require calc. However, I still believe that you need to be proficient in math to take on any major related to econ.</p>
<p>^Aren’t there two sets of intermediate economics classes? 100A & B as well as 101A & B</p>
<p>I believe that one is extremely math heavy, its the economic theory one.</p>
<p>As for political economy, it is great! I studied the Japanese Miracle in my Comparative Politics honors class, pretty amazing stuff. Any area of the world your interested in?</p>
<p>That’s from the course catalog for political economy:
(I) Conceptual Tools</p>
<p>Section A: Two courses in intermediate economics. Choose one of the following sequences: Economics 100A-100B or Economics 101A-101B or IAS 106-107 or UGBA 101A-101B.</p>
<p>If I’m not mistaken, the latter two sequences are not that math heavy. </p>
<p>@Transferuc
I’m from the former USSR so I would definitely like to incorporate that into my major. I’m also planing to minor in Environmental Economics and Policy. I hope that can be my concentration as well.</p>
<p>^ I spent some time looking over Russian ‘Shock Therapy’. Something you should take some time researching.</p>
<p>I envy your major choices, seeing how the future appears ‘green’ you should be in a good place when you graduate.</p>
<p>Transferuc,</p>
<p>Are you a Political Economy major at CAL? Could you elaborate a bit more on the major, more-so than what is stated on the site?</p>
<p>The thing is, although is sounds absolutely fascinating, since I haven’t taken any Economics classes, I don’t know if I would be any “good” in this major. Any ideas, guys?</p>
<p>KsForBerkeley,</p>
<p>Which part of the former USSR are you from, if you don’t mind my asking?</p>
<p>All Poli. Econ. majors: what are your plans after graduating with a BA from CAL?</p>
<p>^
I actually wrote a final paper on that for my comparative politics class last semester. It was a great experience, as I was able to rethink my memories of those times. Even though I was just 7 years old when the shock therapy was introduced, I could already feel its effects on me and my family. Believe me, those were some crazy years.</p>
<p>^ I’m originally from Belarus.
I actually would not advise you to change your major before you take any econ classes. If you don’t like math and graphs you might not like it at all.
As for your question on what we plan to do after we graduate, I’m thinking about working for about two years and than going to grad school. I don’t know exactly the field I want to get into, but I’m sure there will be a lot of opportunities for me to explore that in Berkeley.</p>
<p>Alas, I’m an Economics/Political Science (Emphasis in Comparative Politics) Major…oh and some spanish hahaha</p>
<p>@ItsMe213</p>
<p>Political Economy, in my opinion, is the study of how power and scarcity interact within the reality. It is truly another factor economist fail to look at when creating theory. Political Economy looks at why some countries are poor, while others are rich. Why the composition of the United States economy differs from that of France or Germany or Greece. Political Economy looks at the debt in a way the economist cannot see debt, from a security aspect.</p>
<p>@ksForBerkeley</p>
<p>That must have been dramatic, when I was studying Shock Therapy I was stunned how ‘crony capitalism’, as I call it, could dismantle a state.</p>
<p>What’s the difference between political economy vs political economy of Industrial Societies?</p>
<p>check at this later.</p>