Principals of Economics (MACRO).....hard or easy?

Hello all! Let me start by saying excuse me if this is a dumb question. As you can tell by me screen name, I’m a late college bloomer lol. I am going in as a freshman, and looking to add another class to my schedule (making it 5) and I don’t want the additional class to be too strenuous so I’ve been thinking about economics. I’ve been hearing economics is hard from some and easy from others. Now I vaguely remember HS economics (I’m not sure if has economics has changed since I’ve been in school), but I remember it being ridiculously easy. Am I missing something when it comes to college Economics?

Really depends on the school / prof. The content is the content. It’s a survey class which will give you a good overview of Macro Econ. If you like that sort of thing it might be quite interesting (many misunderstand economics in general - really about global resources, systems, governments, etc.)

Some schools/profs may make it quite demanding (tons of reading, papers). Others might just stick to the general textbook and offer multiple choice exams.

BTW - Good for you that you’re going back to school. Takes a lot of guts. Best of luck!

You are absolutely right in that what is hard for one person can be incredibly easy for another person. My father was upset when I signed up for German classes in college, because his college roommate had made Ds in German. He insisted I switch to Spanish, but I knew my own strengths, pursued German, and made straight As. He quickly went silent. Later, when I signed up for Russian classes (in which I made 100s), he didn’t say a word. Languages were easy for me, despite how challenging they may have been for my dad’s former college roommate.

If economics was easy for you in the past, then it will likely be easy for you now. I think it is also one of those subjects that if you are interested in it, you’ll do well. It’s a topic that can bore some people to tears and be riveting to others. If global affairs interest you, including global trade and the economic strength of different countries, then macro economics should be fascinating to you. Good luck with your studies!

If it’s macro which requires calculus it’s going to be hard. If it’s “macro lite” which is more of a “here are the concepts” class with no problem-sets and light on the math- it’s likely to be easy. If it’s the macro class that econ majors take, it will be hard-- if it’s the class that others take just to check off a box- probably not.

Hi there,
TBH, I struggled a lot more in the beginning econ classes than the advanced ones because I didn’t really get the basic material down. I think that your advanced class experience heavily relies on how well you understand the basics. But, everyone is different and maybe you’ll find the advanced stuff easier. In my case, I went into the professor’s office hours and searched up helpful online games/websites to teach me the basics (I learn well with interactive stuff).
These are the links if you want to check out:

Demand:

Supply:

Both:

This thread is old, but you used the wrong word. It should be principles, not principals.