An economist specializes in micro or macroeconomics, examining an organization’s economy to make predictions and recommendations. They can work for the government, schools, or private sector, requiring an advanced degree for job security and above-average pay.
An economist is most simply described as a person with experience in the field of economics. In most cases, this knowledge is acquired after years of study in an academic setting, in addition to real-world experience. In most cases, there is no specific job that has the title of economist. Instead, the job may refer to an economic analyst or consultant, or to any of a number of other different titles.
An economist usually specializes in a particular area of economics. In most cases this will likely be in one of two main areas, microeconomics or macroeconomics – the difference being one of scale. Microeconomics can focus on an individual, group of individuals or an organization. Macroeconomics will focus on how a larger group of individuals affect and behave in an economy.
An economist’s primary job, no matter what the specialization, is to examine the inner workings of their organizations’ economy of interest and make predictions and recommendations based on that. For example, an economics expert looking at housing and seeing a slowdown might advise a company that manufactures air conditioning or furnace units to start reducing their production as demand is likely to decline. This helps the company prepare for a downturn by avoiding overstaffing or overstaffing, thereby increasing the long-term financial stability of the institution.
Many economists are employed by the government to help them determine things like monetary policy. Another major employer of economics majors are schools, which either offer economics as a major or which have classes designed for those interested in other fields but need an economics class or two to meet their degree course requirements. In both cases, jobs remain reasonably safe and stable for a long period of time.
An economist can also find work in the private sector, usually as an employee of a large corporation that depends on forecasts for a living, or as a private contractor who sells their research to these companies. In either case, there can be high demand as companies invest millions of dollars in their business operations and therefore look to operate at peak efficiency. This can also be a very stressful position for employment, as wrong forecasts often lead to a significant loss of revenue for the company.
Becoming an expert in economics is not an easy task. Most of the time, finding a job as an economist requires an advanced degree, with a master’s degree being acceptable most of the time, but a doctorate being preferred. Therefore, the schooling that an economist goes through is usually very extensive. However, pay and job security are generally very good – above average even for most professionals.
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