Just what does an economist do?

2. Just what does an economist do?

3. Economists Do research including preparing surveys and crunching the numbers

4. Economists Do research including preparing surveys and crunching the numbers Forecast how the economy might change in the future

5. Economists Do research including preparing surveys and crunching the numbers Forecast how the economy might change in the future They study topics such as prices, jobs, interest rates, taxes, the stock market, commodities, money, the banking system

6. Economists They then write up their reports and present the findings to clients

7. Economists They then write up their reports and present the findings to clients They are really good at PowerPoint and developing charts, graphs and flow charts

8. Economists More than half of economists work for federal, state and local governments

9. Economists More than half of economists work for federal, state and local governments Many work for banks, consulting firms, NGOs or are self-employed

10. NGOs United Nations, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, AARP

11. Economists More than half of economists work for federal, state and local governments Many work for banks, consulting firms, NGOs or are self-employed And the rest live in the academic environment or non-profit “think” tanks such as The Heritage Foundation, Hoover Institution and Brookings Institute

12. Economists The media pay is $90,000 year

13. Economists The media pay is $90,000 year There were just 15,400 jobs in 2010 and it’s a slow-growth profession

14. Economists The media pay is $90,000 year There were just 15,400 jobs in 2010 and it’s a slow-growth profession Most positions require a Ph.D. or at least a master’s degree

15. Economists The media pay is $90,000 year There were just 15,400 jobs in 2010 and it’s a slow-growth profession Most positions require a Ph.D. or at least a master’s degree Lots of young people with a degree in econ work in other fields

16. Top economics schools

17. Top economics schools Harvard Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Princeton University of Chicago Stanford University of California – Berkeley Northwestern Yale University of Pennsylvania Columbia

18. Top economics schools University of Florida was #48

22. History of economics Modern economics began in 1776 with our pal Adam Smith (1723-1790) and The Wealth of Nations

24. History of economics Modern economics began in 1776 with our pal Adam Smith (1723-1790) and The Wealth of Nations Smith influenced generations of economists and thinkers including David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton… and Thomas Sowell

25. Adam Smith “Every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain; and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.”[

26. Adam Smith In short, the “invisible hand” refers to the self-regulating behavior of the marketplace when people, acting in their own self interest, benefit society

27. History of economics Over time, “schools” of economics formed about common framework of assumptions and that continues today

28. History of economics Over time, “schools” of economics formed about common framework of assumptions and that continues today Chicago, London, Austrian, Carnegie… also loosely organized around “saltwater” schools (on both U.S. coasts) and “freshwater” schools (Chicago, Carnegie Mellon)

29. Mercantilists Popular from 16th to late 18th centuries, the earliest of the economic schools

30. Mercantilists Popular from 16th to late 18th centuries, the earliest of the economic schools James Steuart was most prominent writer Mercantilists argued that the most important role for government was to ensure a positive balance of trade… export more than you import

31. Mercantilists Popular from 16th to late 18th centuries, the earliest of the economic schools James Steuart was most prominent writer Mercantilists argued that the most important role for government was to ensure a positive balance of trade… export more than you import They were zero summers!

32. Mercantilists Were concerned with the power of their nation relative to others They didn’t care about SRTHAU to maximize their nation’s standard of living, they wanted more wealth and military power than other nations

33. Mercantilists Were concerned with the power of their nation relative to others They didn’t care about SRTHAU to maximize their nation’s standard of living, they wanted more wealth and military power than other nations Typical policies included overseas colonies, ban on the export of gold, tariffs, wage limits, imperialism, subsidies for domestic manufacture

35. Classical economics ‘Wealth of Nations’ ended the mercantilists, although some of their policies such as positive balance of trade and tariffs endure

36. Classical economics ‘Wealth of Nations’ ended the mercantilists, although some of their policies such as positive balance of trade and tariffs endure Smith realized that the prosperity of a nation depended on creating more goods and services… and that economic policy should be for everyone’s benefit, just the merchants

37. Classical economics ‘Wealth of Nations’ ended the mercantilists, although some of their policies such as positive balance of trade and tariffs endure Smith realized that the prosperity of a nation depended on creating more goods and services… and that economic policy should be for everyone’s benefit, just the merchants Smith also rejected slavery and imperialism

38. Classical economics ‘Wealth of Nations’ ended the mercantilists, although some of their policies such as positive balance of trade and tariffs endure Smith realized that the prosperity of a nation depended on creating more goods and services… and that economic policy should be for everyone’s benefit, just the merchants Smith also rejected slavery and imperialism His theories led to the school of Classical Economics, with a nod to the Physiocrats

39. Physiocrats French economists who advocated that productive farm work, not gold, was key to wealth of a nation Because of the agrarian society, they thought only agriculture land counted First used the term “laissez-faire”

40. Classical economics Smith was radical: preached a sharply reduced role for government and elites

41. Classical economics Smith was radical: preached a sharply reduced role for government and elites Argued that wealth is not a zero-sum game… everyone can win in both foreign trade and the domestic market

42. Classical economics Smith was radical: preached a sharply reduced role for government and elites Argued that wealth is not a zero-sum game… everyone can win in both foreign trade and the domestic market The free market will regulate itself due to the invisible hand

43. Classical economics Smith was radical: preached a sharply reduced role for government and elites Argued that wealth is not a zero-sum game… everyone can win in both foreign trade and the domestic market The free market will regulate itself due to the invisible hand The Classical economists changed economics from a concern with a ruler’s interests to that of the nation

45. David Ricardo1772-1823 Most influential economist of the early 19th century Developed “comparative advantage,” which showed how two unequal nations could trade to mutual benefit Was also the first to use economics dispassionately… principles over immediate policy issues

46. Say’s Law Developed by French economist Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832)

47. Say’s Law Developed by French economist Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) Say addressed the fears that a growing nation would produce so many good and services that it would exceed the ability of the people to buy them

48. Say’s Law Developed by French economist Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) Say addressed the fears that a growing nation would produce so many good and services that it would exceed the ability of the people to buy them Say argued that the national output and the income people had were related… “supply creates its own demand” and, therefore, no limit to what it can produce

49. Modern economics First exclusive journal was in 1886, “The Quarterly Journal of Economics” at Harvard

50. Modern economics First exclusive journal was in 1886, “The Quarterly Journal of Economics” at Harvard First U.S. professor of economics appointed in 1871 at Harvard, which awards first Ph.D. in 1875