Hey guys,
I’m new here. I’m currently taking a year off from school but when I go back, I’m thinking about changing my major to either Economics or Finance.
I’ve researched and I see pretty much the same generic answers for the differences between economics and finance but what I’m wondering is what degree is better for investing? If so, how and why? I saw that finance is the more practical one and economics is more theory. Please give me some more info.
I would say Finance. Finance generally deals with the direct application of capital which corresponds closely with investing. Econ is somewhat broader dealing with items such as monetary policy in Macro Econ and private monetary decision making in Micro Econ.
I would advise doing some research and taking courses in each regardless.
Econ is more academic while Finance is more practical/real-world applications. That said an econ major can get into investing - what matters the most is internships and experience. With a good internship both econ and finance will get you in, so long as you have the proper academic credentials.
I’d say finance mainly because if you are a finance major you will be in a business school. As part of any business school you will take a core of business classes (ex. accounting, IT, marketing, management, business law etc.) which will help to give you a more complete understanding of the business world. Economics is generally a liberal arts major so you would not have these courses. One is not better than the other, but they are different.