Learning economics: cautionary notes - Revision history

Vipul: Vipul moved page Cautionary notes for economics learners to Learning economics: cautionary notes

2014-01-09T17:40:39Z

Vipul moved page Cautionary notes for economics learners to Learning economics: cautionary notes

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Vipul at 17:30, 9 January 2014

2014-01-09T17:30:12Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:30, 9 January 2014
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			# Contrary to what many people think, economics is only tangentially related to the subjects of finance, business management, and accounting. As a discipline, it is more closely related to sociology and political science.
			# Understanding economics will not make you notably better than others at making predictions about the stock market or economic recessions. Predictions in these areas are notoriously hard and it would take a lot of effort to reliably do better than the existing consensus of experts. What economics can help you with is reliably understanding some of the mechanisms of operation and the effects of policies on economies.
	# The subject of economics is very politically charged, because of the significant extent to which economics affects the daily lives of people and the decisions of democratically elected governments. As a result of this, a lot of books in the market that claim to be introductions to economics may in fact be attempts to sell a particular form of economic doctrine.		# The subject of economics is very politically charged, because of the significant extent to which economics affects the daily lives of people and the decisions of democratically elected governments. As a result of this, a lot of books in the market that claim to be introductions to economics may in fact be attempts to sell a particular form of economic doctrine.
	# The topic of microeconomics is well-understood, but the topic of macroeconomics -- the large-scale operation of the economy, including such issues as money, inflation, unemployment, and business cycles -- is both poorly understood and controversial. There are many different schools of thought even within mainstream economics, and even more at the fringes. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you begin your study of economics by focusing on the key ideas of microeconomics and only ''then'' proceed to understand the different schools of macroeconomic thought.		# The topic of microeconomics is well-understood, but the topic of macroeconomics -- the large-scale operation of the economy, including such issues as money, inflation, unemployment, and business cycles -- is both poorly understood and controversial. There are many different schools of thought even within mainstream economics, and even more at the fringes. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you begin your study of economics by focusing on the key ideas of microeconomics and only ''then'' proceed to understand the different schools of macroeconomic thought.
	# ~~Contrary~~ to ~~what many people think,~~ economics ~~is only tangentially related to~~ the ~~subjects of finance~~, ~~business management, and accounting. As~~ a ~~discipline, it is more closely related to sociology and political science~~.		# Basic economics does not require much mathematics. However, in order to delve into economics beyond the basics, you will need to have a strong mathematical background. If you are interested in economics beyond the basics, therefore, you should make sure to [[learn mathematics well]].
	~~# Understanding economics will not make~~ you ~~notably better than others at making predictions about the stock market or economic recessions. Predictions~~ in ~~these areas are notoriously hard and it would take a lot of effort to reliably do better than~~ the ~~existing consensus of experts. What economics can help~~ you ~~with is reliably understanding some of the mechanisms of operation and the effects of policies on economies~~.

Vipul: Created page with "# The subject of economics is very politically charged, because of the significant extent to which economics affects the daily lives of people and the decisions of democratica..."

2014-01-09T17:10:29Z

Created page with "# The subject of economics is very politically charged, because of the significant extent to which economics affects the daily lives of people and the decisions of democratica..."

New page

# The subject of economics is very politically charged, because of the significant extent to which economics affects the daily lives of people and the decisions of democratically elected governments. As a result of this, a lot of books in the market that claim to be introductions to economics may in fact be attempts to sell a particular form of economic doctrine.
# The topic of microeconomics is well-understood, but the topic of macroeconomics -- the large-scale operation of the economy, including such issues as money, inflation, unemployment, and business cycles -- is both poorly understood and controversial. There are many different schools of thought even within mainstream economics, and even more at the fringes. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you begin your study of economics by focusing on the key ideas of microeconomics and only ''then'' proceed to understand the different schools of macroeconomic thought.
# Contrary to what many people think, economics is only tangentially related to the subjects of finance, business management, and accounting. As a discipline, it is more closely related to sociology and political science.
# Understanding economics will not make you notably better than others at making predictions about the stock market or economic recessions. Predictions in these areas are notoriously hard and it would take a lot of effort to reliably do better than the existing consensus of experts. What economics can help you with is reliably understanding some of the mechanisms of operation and the effects of policies on economies.