Econ vs. Finance as a major

blossom
Mon, 10 Mar 2025 00:21:03 +0000

OP- start your college career now by engaging in research.

No, not just reading course catalogues. Read actual articles about stuff going on in the world. If you read an article about a study showing that increasing the minimum wage in a particular state meant that poverty INCREASED (more people eligible for food stamps, more people applying for unemployment) and you think “Wow, that’s so interesting”- hey, that’s something that economists study. Or if you read about a team of people trying to trace the assets of a country’s president who has been stealing from his own treasury and think “Wow, that’s so interesting”-- that’s something accountants do (specifically forensic accountants- a highly specialized sub-field of accounting). Or you read an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal that discusses the trade deficit with China- econ. Or a review of the issues that airlines have paying taxes in every place that an aircraft takes off or lands-- plus taxes on the liquor served on board, payroll taxes for pilots who live all over the place even if their “home” airport is Atlanta-- that’s Accounting.

The New Yorker, FT, WSJ, Bloomberg, Forbes-- start reading, reading and reading. You’ll begin to figure out what really excites you. And it will help your vocabulary (always nice), and give you a head start on college- when you have a question, don’t rely on strangers on the internet for help- do your own research!

Good luck. I attended a panel not long ago on Health economics-- the professors were economists and experts in public health-- and it was FASCINATING. Kinda wish I could go back to school to study economics with an emphasis on healthcare. I took more accounting than econ in my MBA program, and now, 40 years later, I wish it had been the reverse!!!

It will sort itself out once you begin to read!