Center for Business and Economic Research - Ball State University


CBER Data Center
Projects and
Publications
Economic
Indicators
Weekly
Commentary
County
Profiles
Community
Asset Inventory
Brownfield Grant
Writers' Toolbox
Manufacturing
Scorecard

About

Commentaries are published weekly and distributed through the Indianapolis Business Journal and many other print and online publications. Disclaimer

RSS Feed

Disclaimer

The views expressed in these commentaries do not reflect those of Ball State University or the Center for Business and Economic Research.

Recent

Inflation Is Not Our Top ProblemRecession effects are influenced by the tradeoff between unemployment and inflation.

What Will This Economic Recovery Yield for Indiana?The quest to better fund schools and improve our workforce cannot become a partisan issue.

Let’s Be Honest About the COVID Relief BillToo little stimulus is far worse than too much.

Two Sides of the Minimum WageWhat role should the government play?

View archives

Top Tags

jobs and employment 199
economics 162
economic development 121
education 118
taxes 117
finance 102
recession 93
budget and spending 75
state and local government 74
unemployment and the labor market 72
Browse all tags
Reporter / Admin Login

January 10, 2011

What Is Economics?

Recently, my wife has stopped calling me an economist.  It is too hard to explain what I do, so she calls me a professor (which has far more cool points to Harry Potter or Gilligan’s Island fans).  Her reticence begs the question, “What does an economist do and why would anyone want to be one?”

I went to college to become an infantry officer in the U.S. Army.  On my first day at Virginia Military Institute, as I passed through the desks where one chose a major and service, I proudly announced I wanted to become an electrical engineer and infantryman.  The captain just smiled, and told me the U.S. Army would never allow such a silly thing.  I asked, “What is the next most difficult college major that would ensure I could get into the infantry?” He pointed to a nearby table and said, “Economics is a tough major, but it isn’t practical, so you can still be in the infantry.”

I suffered through three years of a liberal arts economics degree when, at last, as a senior, I fell in love with it.  Economic modeling was a clear and wonderful insight into matters big and small.  It offered a way of looking at problems and assessing the benefits and costs of a solution against a common standard.  I was hooked.  By then I was destined for another career, but, after eight years of soldiering, economics pulled me back into the fold and into a doctoral degree. 

Graduate school in economics did not come easy to me, and I continue to struggle with new ideas and techniques every week—sometimes every day.   When I hear today’s students groan and despair in their economics class, I fully understand why.   Describing the behavior of people, businesses and governments in equations is intensely abstract, though, and not everyone is good at abstractions.

The most common mistakes I hear about economists are that we have some special insight on investing, or that there is some political litmus test we must pass (those distinctions belong elsewhere).  

What makes economics exciting, and ultimately the most influential of academic pursuits of the past century, are the combination of two traits.  The first is that through the use of mathematics and statistics, economic analysis is enormously transparent.  This process takes several years of graduate school and a lifetime thereafter to master.  Second, economists have long used a rigorous benchmark against which to measure the merit of a policy or program (who are the winners and losers, and what is the net gain).  This is maddening to folks with a political agenda, and breeds a famously prickly reputation for economists.  But these two features place economic analysis in an enviable position to address nearly every issue.  So today the most influential research in management theory, social, education, health, taxation, environmental and legal policy all comes from economists.   It may not be a practical field, but it sure is exciting. Now, if I can only get my wife to agree...

Link to this commentary: https://commentaries.cberdata.org/549/what-is-economics

Tags: economics


About the Author

Michael Hicks cberdirector@bsu.edu

Michael J. Hicks, PhD, is the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research and the George and Frances Ball distinguished professor of economics in the Miller College of Business at Ball State University. Hicks earned doctoral and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Virginia Military Institute. He has authored two books and more than 60 scholarly works focusing on state and local public policy, including tax and expenditure policy and the impact of Wal-Mart on local economies.

© Center for Business and Economic Research, Ball State University

About Ball State CBER Data Center

Ball State CBER Data Center is one-stop shop for economic data including demographics, education, health, and social capital. Our easy-to-use, visual web tools offer data collection and analysis for grant writers, economic developers, policy makers, and the general public.

Ball State CBER Data Center (cberdata.org) is a product of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University. CBER's mission is to conduct relevant and timely public policy research on a wide range of economic issues affecting the state and nation. Learn more.

Terms of Service

Center for Business and Economic Research

Ball State University • Whitinger Business Building, room 149
2000 W. University Ave.
Muncie, IN 47306-0360
Phone:
765-285-5926
Email:
cber@bsu.edu
Website:
www.bsu.edu/cber
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/BallStateCBER
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/BallStateCBER
Close