could someone tell me more about economics?

<p>so, my understanding of econ so far is that basically/generally it is the study of how money makes the world go round theoretically and statistically.</p>

<p>i realize that there is math involved, but i'd much rather suffer through some math courses than science courses.</p>

<p>i guess i just want to know what sort of things are studied. im starting to read freakonomics by the u of c prof to sort of gain a better understanding of economics as a whole.</p>

<p>please tell me all about it, in terms of time put into the major, is it a 'hard' major like bio or something, is it good for someone like me who hopes to enter law school one day, etc. all about it folks.</p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p>Well.... I probably won't major in this, but I'm taking microeconomics right now. It is the study of people buying things... like what makes them buy something... and the individual... macro is on stocks and larger companies. The math in my class is rather easy. In fact, they try to avoid the equations and try to use graphs instead... though it would probably be easier to understand with equations! Sorry, I can't tell you much about it, because this is just my first ECON class, but I was considering this as a back up major... so it's not that hard... and I think I read somewhere that you can get into law school with Econ, or some sort of government thing. Why don't you try a class and see for yourself?</p>

<p>The math gets harder, don't worry about that. The equations start with the first course after the introductory one. Also, I heard that in graduate school you need to know a lot of upper division math (like multivariable and above.) </p>

<p>Also, macro is not "on stocks and larger companies." It's on how the economy as a whole works. You study things like inflation, unemployment, aggregate supply/demand, etc.</p>

<p>Macroeconomics in America has a lot to do with financial policy. Microeconomics has to do with business entities making decisions about opportunity costs, elasticity, economies of scale, etc. </p>

<p>Economics is basically the study of scarce resources, and how society distributes them. Ofcourse, the key to economics is that "there is no free lunch", and "the best we can do is always second best."</p>

<p>Oh, and the math definately gets much harder.</p>

<p>How much harder?</p>

<p>^ Ditto. I'm decent at math (Calc BC as a junior) but certainly not stellar.</p>

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^ Ditto. I'm decent at math (Calc BC as a junior) but certainly not stellar.

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<p>That IS stellar.</p>

<p>I have a B average in the class, and I study my butt off. Math (especially the kind that involves visualization) doesn't come naturally for me. I've found that I'm great at differential equations and algebra, but I'm horrible at math that requires high spatial capacity (e.g. 3-D rotation and what not). I'm guessing that economics requires this ability, since it deals mostly with graphs.. so I'm a bit concerned. Next year, I'm going to sample economics with my IB Economics course. However, this is a very brief overview of the field, and I really can't be sure of what to expect until I actually explore it in college..</p>

<p>How does a Econ Major/Premed Sound? Is it possible to pull off a good GPA from Econ classes... like maybe 3.7-3.8 while still balancing premed requirements , studying from MCATS, and volunteering?</p>

<p>Econ/Finance is genius.
Econ/math is smart.
Econ/Computer science is also smart.
Econ/another social science is not productive.
Econ/science is stupid.
Econ/Premed is suicide.</p>

<p>No exceptions, even if you want to go to med school. Realistically, I don't see it happening.</p>

<p>econ/political science for law skool?</p>

<p>Ahh... ok IhateCA... thanks for the help</p>

<p>IhateCA, do you mean one has tobe a genius to do econ/finance or that that is a genius idea?</p>

<p>must be genius idea. at my current school (although i'm applying to transfer) i'm an international business/econ and finance double major... and they overlap pretty cleanly.</p>

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IhateCA, do you mean one has tobe a genius to do econ/finance or that that is a genius idea?

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<p>No. I meant that it's a genius idea to do econ/finance double.</p>

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Econ/another social science is not productive.

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<p>I think you are wrong on this note. Econ/Poli Science and Econ/Philosophy are quite productive courses.</p>

<p>OK I stand corrected. That up there is merely my opinion.</p>

<p>The only math involved in the intro level is gets about as complicated as basic mathematics. The graphs however are on every page of the textbooks.</p>

<p>And I also know quite a few people at Penn who double majored with Econ/Bio or Econ/Biological Basis of Behavior (super popular pre-med major), so they completed their Pre-med requirements and did Econ and are now in med school.</p>

<p>how hard is macro-economics? i have to take a course on this. i've heard some rumors that its sooooooo hard, and others say its easy.</p>

<p>does macro-economics require all of your time to pass the class with a B or better like a general biology class would?</p>

<p>is there a lot of math involved? feedback appreciated.</p>