sporadicposter

I am not completely sure what to major in when I go to college, but I am considering majors such as accounting and economics because they are practical. I was wondering if anyone knows how difficult the math associated with economics is? I took an economics class as a sophomore and it was a reasonably challenging class, but I wasn't sure if the math was watered down or not. Is it calculus based? Word problems?

OminousRun

There are economic problems that require Calculus, such as optimization problems, calculating rate of change, etc.

However, I'm not an Economics major (my major is Statistics) so I'm not exactly sure how math intensive an Economics degree will get.

I do know there are different levels/tracks of Economics degrees, some much more math intensive than others. A BS in Econometrics or Mathematical Economics will require upper level mathematics and statistics courses. A BA in General Economics given will probably require less math. It depends on your school. The higher you go in Economics, the more math intensive some of the class get.

I would not compare a high school level Economics class to a College Economics class - completely different animal. Get to college, take macro and micro economics, see if you like it and then decide if you want to pursue that path. Macro and Micro Economics are beneficial to take because they are often prerequisites for many college majors, so no harm no foul in taking them.

Homer28

Calculating rate of change certainly does NOT require calculus.

Sligh_Anarchist

Economics isn't "practical" in the sense that accounting is. You will never be asked in a typical corporate job to find the intersection of the inverse demand and supply curves, calculate the deadweight loss of a negative financial externality, etc. But the mathematical frame of mind and thinking associated with economics is useful as a liberal arts degree.

But to answer your question, it depends on the type of economics degree you take. Typically, it's beneficial to take at least multivariable calculus to understand partial derivation. But there are many economics programs that only require basic calculus as a graduation requirement.