Reading and speaking

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 442.

A career in Economics

Writing

24. Write 8-12 sentences about how you manage your money. Questions in 28 may help.

25. Read the interview with an economist Ben Wilmer and find the following information.

a.Is economics for everyone?

b.If you enjoy solving puzzles careersin economicsmight be for you, right?

c.What are the economist responsibilities?

Want To Be An Economist?

Mark: Today we're exploring a career path in economics by talking to a real professional who does that kind of work. We'll be talking to Ben Wilmer, a finance professor. Thanks for being here. Do you really feel that most people could grasp economics?

Ben: I think so. Because one of the things that I've found is that economics is like a foreign language and should be taught as such. As an example: I speak a little French. So if you put me in the middle of Paris, I can say “how much for the baguette”, “where's the metro”, things like that. But if someone asks me a question in French, what I have to do is I have to translate that question in English, come up with an answer in English and then translate it back into French. And doing Economics is exactly the same thing, where you have to go and take an economic question, translate that into English, use your English logic to come up with an answer and then translate that answer back into the economics language. When I talk to another economist, I can talk from econ to econ because both of us are fluent in that language.

M: Very interesting! I understand what you're saying. Tell us this. What is an economist in your opinion?

B: Economists are someone who go and study the ways that society uses limited resources, such as land, water, raw materials, and human labour, to satisfy people's needs and wants. They are social scientists who have expert knowledge about systems that produce, distribute, and use goods and services. Economists are concerned with how individuals, businesses, and governments at all levels obtain, invest, and spend money. They also study the reasons why people follow certain economic courses.

M: Very good. Now tell me this – when I see economists on TV, they're always talking about our country's economic situation. Is that what most economists do?

B: No. Since economics is a very broad field, economists often specialize in more focused areas of interest, such as industrial productivity, taxes, farm policies or international trade. There really are two types of economics. There's something called microeconomics, which is the study of business and individuals, and macroeconomics which is the study of how countries and economies run. So when you see an economist on the news, often times you see macroeconomists who go and study how the economy as a whole is going to run.

M: OK. So I want to talk about the examples of career paths for people with an economics degree. What are some of the different career paths that people can go and apply to?

B: Oh! There are so many jobs out there, such as being a management consultant, an accountant, you can work within finance, and you can go work within businesses

studying how to set prices for various products. There are so many different things you can do with just an undergraduate degree in economics.

M: And I also want to talk about skills. What professional skills should people calling themselves economists possess?

B: Because economic activity is measured numerically, economists must be skilled in using statistics and mathematical analyses as well as economic theory. They often use computerized data in their work. So there are two main things that I really think that you need to have. One is a strong background in mathematics. The more maths you know, the better you'll be able to handle economics. And the second thing is solving puzzles –because what you're often times asked is you come up with a question and then you go and use economic thinking and try to put various pieces together in order to come up with the right straight economic logical answer.

M: Well … I think of being an economist as a very serious career. But you told me it's a fun career. How is it fun?

B: Because again, if you like puzzles and going and trying to solve the puzzles, then once you solve the puzzles and come up with answers and get the a-ha moment, it can be very exciting and very fun.

M: OK! Excellent. So let's get some advice for everybody.

B: Sure. So it's again: study hard maths and economics and everything will be OK.

25.1. Mark the sentences true (T) or false (F). Correct the false sentences.

1. Economists study how to allocate scarce resources. And those resources can be anything from goods and services to money and labour. (T / F)

2. Economists usually study many forms of economic data in their work. (T / F)

3. You can have a great career as an economist after earning your bachelor's degree. (T / F)

4. There are all kinds of careers for economists, ranging from management consultant to economic analyst. (T / F)

5. Economics may not be for everyone. (T / F)

6. Economics is a field where many of today's most marketable skills are acquired: the skills of good writing and thinking. (T / F)

25.2. Match the verbs on the left with the words on the right to make word phrases.

1. earn a decisions

2.run b information

3.distribute cforecasts

4.produce d money

5.study e economy

6.provide fgoods and services

7.make gresources

8.prepare heconomic data

25.3. Make sentences with these word phrases.

Example: Many people earn money by selling goods or offering services to others.

25.4. Economics students must have critical thinking and need to gain problem-solving skills to analyze situations in the economic environment, determine their causes and find solutions. Choose one option.

A good economics student is one who …

– needs to consider two/different viewpoints.

– makes reasoned / quite complex judgments about possible solutions.

– bases his judgments on economic analysis / his own experience only.

– undertakes numerical calculations / symbols.

– interprets data presented in diagrams only / a variety of forms.

– analyses and evaluates economic problems and solutions / abstract economic theory.

– uses ICT / drawing skills.

– analyses the causes of pollution / unemployment.

– writes reports / stories.

– makes predictions about the economy / weather forecast.