2008 Woodie Awards
Ecnomics for everyone: Back to the future
Stephen Zill
Issue date: 6/9/08 Section: Features
Earlier this year, when I was asked if I would like to contribute a student-oriented, weekly column to La Voz on economic issues, my first thought was, "Sure, I've got a few opinions - and it wasn't so long ago that I, too, was a student."
Nevertheless, I did harbor some trepidation that I might eventually run out of things to say.
Well, it turns out I needn't have worried, because looking back now on the past six months of activity in the U.S. and global economies, it wouldn't be unreasonable to paraphrase the Grateful Dead and comment, "What a short, strange trip it's been."
Given that this is essentially my last column for the academic year (next week: summer reading recommendations), I thought it might be appropriate to "wrap up" some of the things we've been discussing and summarize the current state of the economy.
One thing that I particularly hope I've succeeded at over the past 18 weeks is debunking the myth that economics is a "dismal science," as Thomas Carlyle (see my column two weeks ago) once put it. While, perhaps, economists have no one to blame other than themselves for this misconception, these columns are an attempt to show that economics is, in fact, an incredibly exciting and interesting subject that has a lot to do with you and your everyday life - so much so that, as I argued earlier, it should be a requirement for college graduation.
The two basic branches of what the Greeks called "Oikonomika" are microeconomics, which deals with the behavior of individual decision-makers, and macroeconomics, which deals with aggregates and "the big picture." Microeconomics helps to explain things like the recent hike in gas prices and answer questions like "Why is there Braille on ATMs at drive-thru banks?" Macroeconomics deals with things like rising inflation and recession.
In the past half-year, both of these fields have seen their share of significant and well-publicized events. On the microeconomic side, I really doubt if there is anyone among us who hasn't felt the impact of rising food and gas prices. And for those planning to move on to a four-year school and are in need of financial assistance, the lingering credit crisis has no doubt made your student loan options uncertain.
Nevertheless, I did harbor some trepidation that I might eventually run out of things to say.
Well, it turns out I needn't have worried, because looking back now on the past six months of activity in the U.S. and global economies, it wouldn't be unreasonable to paraphrase the Grateful Dead and comment, "What a short, strange trip it's been."
Given that this is essentially my last column for the academic year (next week: summer reading recommendations), I thought it might be appropriate to "wrap up" some of the things we've been discussing and summarize the current state of the economy.
One thing that I particularly hope I've succeeded at over the past 18 weeks is debunking the myth that economics is a "dismal science," as Thomas Carlyle (see my column two weeks ago) once put it. While, perhaps, economists have no one to blame other than themselves for this misconception, these columns are an attempt to show that economics is, in fact, an incredibly exciting and interesting subject that has a lot to do with you and your everyday life - so much so that, as I argued earlier, it should be a requirement for college graduation.
The two basic branches of what the Greeks called "Oikonomika" are microeconomics, which deals with the behavior of individual decision-makers, and macroeconomics, which deals with aggregates and "the big picture." Microeconomics helps to explain things like the recent hike in gas prices and answer questions like "Why is there Braille on ATMs at drive-thru banks?" Macroeconomics deals with things like rising inflation and recession.
In the past half-year, both of these fields have seen their share of significant and well-publicized events. On the microeconomic side, I really doubt if there is anyone among us who hasn't felt the impact of rising food and gas prices. And for those planning to move on to a four-year school and are in need of financial assistance, the lingering credit crisis has no doubt made your student loan options uncertain.
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