1. Communication and Persuasion in Economics (link)
Communication is key in all things. Even though economists can have largely varied opinions, if they are unable to relay the knowledge they have it is of no use. Economists all take their own approach using similar methods to try and benefit mankind to the best of their ability, even though their approach may not be the best. If we were better able to communicate our knowledge, many of the problems faced in the world today would be solved.
Economics has its own terminology that often times people are not familiar with. This causes a need for the economist to do a good job when they tell a story. They need to be able to relay important information, often presented in the form of data or a statistical analysis, so that even the most uninformed citizen can understand what is being talked about.
3. Mercantilism (link)
Economics has been around for a while, but it wasn't until 1776 when it really started to develop into a discipline for study. There are theories such as mercantilism that state that a nation is only as prosperous as the amount of money they have. Other theories are also existing, and most of the time those theories don't change, but the way that we approach theory and other economic situations changes often. Scarce resource allocation is a crucial part of meeting the needs of mankind.
4. Institutional Authority and Communication in Economics (link)
The United Nations Economic and Social Counsel is one of the fundamental organizations in the field. There are things that change in the field of economics, but if they do it would have to come up in one of the meetings with this organization. One of the main things about being an economist is trying to be well informed of what is going on in the world. The ECOSOC is where all of those things going on in the world are discussed.
Hot-spots:
1. Hotspot #1 (field): Economic models are useful but not accurate. For some reason many people believe that economists can foretell the future, or always are right with their analysis. This is not the case. They make projections, and try to understand the world around us, and they make assumptions to understand situations, but they are not always right.
2. Hotspot #2 (personal): If an economist is unable to communicate or relay the information and knowledge they have, they will make very little difference in the world. They have to be able to present things in such a way that is statistically sound, yet simple.
3. Hotspot #3 (personal): Economics is a different way of viewing the world, it's not about money. Economics is the study of allocating the scarce resources available to meet human needs. This applies to both tangible and intangible things. It is a science, which means we are continually learning things and finding new data and information to help in research.
I really liked your hot spots. I thought they were really well thought out and will help you in your paper. I would use hotspot # 3 at the beginning of your paper to help your audience understand what economics is because not everyone knows.
ReplyDeleteI think that hot spot #3 would be a really interesting topic to hear more about. I don't know a lot about economics and I've never heard it referred to as "a different way of viewing the world." This makes me want to understand it more.
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