3 Benefits of Studying Economics: Steven Foxworth
Much of our day-to-day activities are affected or driven by economics. Simply defined, economics is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Steven Foxworth — a social studies teacher with a Master of Education focused on Educational Leadership and Administration from Concordia University-Portland — believes that there isn’t enough emphasis on teaching economics to children. Steven Foxworth explains economics and provided his three primary benefits of studying economics.
What is Economics?
Economics is a social science that explores an entire range of issues that influence financial decisions. It looks at how individuals and organizations use, produce, consume, and distribute the world’s goods and services. There are two main types of economics: microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics focuses on the economic behaviour of individuals, and macroeconomics looks at economies on a global or national scale.
Steven Foxworth states that the primary reasons it is useful to study economics is the real-life applicability, the endless employment opportunities, and transferable skills.
- Real-Life Applications
Above all else, economics allow you to understand the world around you, and will help to contextualize other aspects of society; it is the almighty teacher. Steven Foxworth explains that economists study how consumers, workers and businesses behave with the goal of providing helpful analysis and advice to private firms, governments, and international institutions. Economics will teach you how to make well-informed, decisive, and holistic decisions, which can be a huge contributor to your success in business. Whether you consider taking a degree in economics or not, studying it can help you make decisions like what to do with your career, what to invest your money in or what bank to use. It is a fantastic foundation for many careers and will continue to be relevant far beyond the boundaries of a career as an accomplished economist.
2. Job Market
Studying economics will open the door to an abundance of career opportunities in the public sector, which include the fields of statistical analysis, monetary policy, public finance, economic development, and policy analysis. Students with a background in economics can also find work as foreign-exchange traders, stockbrokers, financial consultants, auditors, tax analysts, investment advisors, research officers, bank managers, market analysts, labour-relations managers, journalists, and so on. Steven Foxworth explains that these positions tend to pay quite well and have a significant amount of room to grow, so the harder you work, the more opportunities you can take advantage of.
3. Cross Disciplinary
Economics is a subject that has a lot of cross-disciplinary possibilities. If you understand economics, your ability to understand the connected cause-and-effect relationship between industries will make you a crucial player on any team, and in any industry. Steven Foxworth suggests that studying economics provides you with a strategy for evaluating the ‘big picture’, a strategic thinking skill that provides value to every tier of an adjacent industry.
Final Thoughts
Economics affects every aspect of our society and understanding how the factors of economics influences the decisions we make is important. Regardless of if you decide to pursue an education in economics, having a basic understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship will prove to be a critical skill in adult life.
