<p>If I get into NYU or Northwestern, I want to pursue a degree in econ because of their renowned strength in respective departments and because im interested in that kind of stuff. my parents are pushing for hardcore science or premed, saying that it is a more stable job choice and doctors get paid a lot basically.</p>
<p>they think that econ/business is like computer science, a fad that will die down in a few years and i wont be able to get a job 10 or 20 yrs down the road. </p>
<p>so are they right? its true that the health sector of the US is going to boom and doctors are going to be in high demand because of the baby boomer generation and longer life span, but i dont see a degree in econ become useless a few years down the ro ad.</p>
<p>do NOT let your parents dictate your career. you WILL have the sadness of not being able to do what you really want to do your whole life. I don't know how business could possibly be a fad, do they not understand how the economy works at all?I don't mean to disrespect your parents, but I especially wouldn't let somebody with that sort of ignorance to dictate your life. </p>
<p>Finance people get paid substantially more than doctors starting at a younger age. It is true there will be a health boon, but this does NOT by any means guarantee a larger pay. In all likelihood, the country will be forced to have a more nationalized health care system, which would cause a decrease in doctors pay. Also, being a doctor isn't secure either, there are many people who don't get into a med school, and are stuck with a biology degree.</p>
<p>For business, the econ degree is useless the day you get your job, you don't actually use what you learn, but it will get you a job that pays 6 figures coming out of undergrad (however, I worry about NYU, since you I'm assuming you didn't get into stern?)</p>
<p>I want you to answer me this question? How in the world does economics die? Economics has lived for thousands of years and it will by no means ever die.</p>
<p>if in some point in time US adopts a social healthcare system doctors will be paid a little bit more than teachers so looking 10-20 years down the road is useless.</p>
<p>I can't see how the wages of physcians can be reduced that drastically, the wages of doctors have to be compensated highly in order to attract the brightest indviduals.</p>
<p>Well, here's another outlook on it. In Canada, we have a social healthcare system where healthcare is completely free (that isn't necessarily a good thing though because you have to wait in long lines and I would rather just pay money to go into a private hospital....but we don't have those here). Anyways, back to the point, there is a cap on what doctors can earn here ($400,000) and frankly speaking, most doctors I have talked to say they don't reach anywhere close to that figure over the year. Other professions such as a lawyer, a dentist or a business executive have no salary caps and the sky is the limit for them. Both my parents are lawyers and we were having this talk about a week ago and they told me that those 3 professions rake in the most money and its is quite common for them to earn upwards of $600,000 on average.</p>
<p>"I can't see how the wages of physcians can be reduced that drastically, the wages of doctors have to be compensated highly in order to attract the brightest indviduals."</p>
<p>We just won't attract the brightest individuals any more, problem solves itself.</p>
<p>What we need is a fix in tort law, doctors lose almost HALF their pay to insurance costs right now.</p>
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if in some point in time US adopts a social healthcare system doctors will be paid a little bit more than teachers so looking 10-20 years down the road is useless.
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<p>This is highly unlikely. Even if you remove some of the premium that comes from privatization, the fact that doctors still need a much higher skill premium tells us that they should be paid more.</p>
<p>As for economics being a "fad," I think that it seems to me that Lurker's parents aren't thinking this through. Economics is the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. As long as there are humans, we will need to understand economics.</p>
<p>Yeah hahaha maybe all the economic problems of the world, past, present and future, will be solved in the next 10-20 years. Then loads of econ majors will be unemployed since it was just a passing fad!</p>
<p>Sounds about as likely as cures for cancer, HIV/AIDS, all mental illnesses, and all other diseases and viruses being developed in the next 10-20 years, as well as the distribution of millions of super-intelligent cyborg medics to treat physical injuries. But it could happen, RIGHT? I mean maybe medicine really is just a passing fad and loads of doctors will be unemployed within the next 10-20 years...</p>
<p>Your parents need to get a grip. Seriously.</p>
<p>I was saying that anything can happen in the future. Those who expect everything to stay the same are misguided. My salary analogy was a little off but starting salaries out fo med school will prolly be around 60-70k and not what they are now if we adopt socialized medicine model. Just like there is a need for accountants and at the same time some congressmen and women want to do away with Sarbanes/Oxley act that created the very need for more accountants.</p>
<p>"the wages of doctors have to be compensated highly in order to attract the brightest indviduals"</p>
<p>earnings of doctors are not high to "attract" smart people but instead more smart people flock to high paying careers (law,finance,medicine) to make a lot of money relatively quickly. </p>
<p>Medicine will always be there though, people will always get sick. So it is prolly the most consistent career choice there is.</p>