Certainly harder than the math required for Comp Sci. And econometrics was a lot of work and not easy.
I would say that Econ is harder than comp sci. Maybe less hard than engineering. But not an "easy" major. This wasn't like sociology. Where the most intense math you'll do is like hwhat? Creating a histogram and hypothesis testing?
That all being said, I guess it depends on the school. A lot of schools throw in a lot of unnecessary math and science into the Comp Sci program, that you never used on the job. Even more in Engineering. And can't get around it cause engineering is a licensed profession. And these courses are mandated by the professional body. Prolly just to lower the supply of engineers.
I haven't worked in the field of economics, but I get the impression that a lot of the math skills we learned in Econ are actually used in the real-world: Like for using models to optimize revenues, profits, etc. And for discovering new models through linear regression, etc.
Most will not do so for one simple reason: math competency or confidence in math skills. Intro courses should be no issue, but beyond that the math can be too intense for many.
Having said that, it seems to me all would benefit from a year long introductory course in economics which at minimum will help sharpen their analytical skills and make them more understanding of themes they see in the news such as min wage, etc.
Also, for some, the deeper the study of econ, the more boring it can become; having to do what really are tons of math problems that at the margin do not provide insight or benefit over and beyond a one year intro course just not all that appealing to a great many.
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: I have a personal interest in this topic, which may present a potential conflict of interest. While I strive to provide an honest and balanced perspective, I acknowledge that my views may be influenced by this connection.
My experience may be outdated, because I was an undergrad 1975-1979 and a grad student 1980-1986. It was a really exciting time, especially post-1980, to be in a quant-heavy program because computing was just starting to be cheaply available and accessible to everyone, not just comp sci majors, on university mainframes. I was drawn to economics initially because the explanatory frameworks just seemed so obviously true to me. It was a way of organizing theories of human behavior that centered rationality and free will and just...made sense. But as I moved into grad school theory took a back seat to statistical analysis, modeling, data crunching and it turned out I was very, very good at it. I left school with a master's and a 5 1/4 floppy disk containing a Displaywrite file of five of six chapters of a never-completed PhD dissertation, and never worked as an economist since then. I've been a data analyst and computer programmer, I got to work on very early AI applications in hospital management, eventually found a niche in health services research, and now I make a ridiculous salary teaching government employees and contractors how to use Medicare and Medicaid data. The only time I use my econ degree now is when I try, unsuccessfully, to counsel my friends to not buy Bitcoin if they don't understand what the **** they're doing.
... but if one has a knack for programming, one may not need to major at all. Just get whatever credentials you need to get a foot inside the door in the software industry. It's probably useful to signal that you could make it through college, but after a few years, for most jobs worth having at least, no one is going to ask about your credentials as opposed to practical experience and earned respect among other professionals. Show enough promise to impress a few experienced colleagues in your first job, and getting further employment won't be difficult except perhaps during a recession.
How to know if one can make it? Take any introductory programming class/course; if you find it relatively easy, and at least somewhat enjoyable, know that things don't really get any more difficult, at least not within mainstream web development. It's just more of the same; keep honing the craft and within 3-5 years (much like the time required to learn most other crafts) you will basically have it down and, unless you're a very difficult person in general, be a highly attractive employee.
Pecking order in terms of difficulty, roughly, is: Hard Sciences > Econ > PolSci > Sociology. Naturally, there are other majors that can be put in here but only meant to be a rough guide. Anyone with a degree in Sociology with a GPA of 3.0 essentially means they need both hands to count. What History has become at universities is too horrible to speak of, but the market of provides--there are plenty of good books one can buy--worthless to major in History.
I majored in econ but ended up becoming a software engineer anyway. Probably not good advice anymore but my actual advice to my past self would have been to drop out of high school to get a SWE internship as soon as I turned 18
By "highest-paid of all the easy majors" I assume Caplan means graduates with econ majors earn more than any graduates with any other easy major? If so, I guess my question would be, is an econ major practically useful in the business world, or is it just a good credential to have?
FWIW I found my philosophy classes more difficult than my econ classes, although my best class was probably one of my mathematical econ courses (taught jointly with the maths department) where we just got thrown Mas-Collell and were told to get on with it. Probably my most difficult class was my decision theory and social choice class, which was taught in the philosophy department but by an economist.
bryan caplan and steve sailer seem to be competing for who can make the shortest halfway meaningful substack post in the history of the platform.
Easy Major? I switched majors from Econ to Comp Sci. I seem to recall that the math required for Econ was pretty intense! Jacobian matrices, multivariate calculus, etc. Check out this course outline: https://www.studocu.com/en-ca/document/concordia-university/mathematics-for-economists-i/325course-outline-econ-325-syllabus/12344487
Certainly harder than the math required for Comp Sci. And econometrics was a lot of work and not easy.
I would say that Econ is harder than comp sci. Maybe less hard than engineering. But not an "easy" major. This wasn't like sociology. Where the most intense math you'll do is like hwhat? Creating a histogram and hypothesis testing?
That all being said, I guess it depends on the school. A lot of schools throw in a lot of unnecessary math and science into the Comp Sci program, that you never used on the job. Even more in Engineering. And can't get around it cause engineering is a licensed profession. And these courses are mandated by the professional body. Prolly just to lower the supply of engineers.
I haven't worked in the field of economics, but I get the impression that a lot of the math skills we learned in Econ are actually used in the real-world: Like for using models to optimize revenues, profits, etc. And for discovering new models through linear regression, etc.
Most will not do so for one simple reason: math competency or confidence in math skills. Intro courses should be no issue, but beyond that the math can be too intense for many.
Having said that, it seems to me all would benefit from a year long introductory course in economics which at minimum will help sharpen their analytical skills and make them more understanding of themes they see in the news such as min wage, etc.
Also, for some, the deeper the study of econ, the more boring it can become; having to do what really are tons of math problems that at the margin do not provide insight or benefit over and beyond a one year intro course just not all that appealing to a great many.
You forgot this:
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: I have a personal interest in this topic, which may present a potential conflict of interest. While I strive to provide an honest and balanced perspective, I acknowledge that my views may be influenced by this connection.
My experience may be outdated, because I was an undergrad 1975-1979 and a grad student 1980-1986. It was a really exciting time, especially post-1980, to be in a quant-heavy program because computing was just starting to be cheaply available and accessible to everyone, not just comp sci majors, on university mainframes. I was drawn to economics initially because the explanatory frameworks just seemed so obviously true to me. It was a way of organizing theories of human behavior that centered rationality and free will and just...made sense. But as I moved into grad school theory took a back seat to statistical analysis, modeling, data crunching and it turned out I was very, very good at it. I left school with a master's and a 5 1/4 floppy disk containing a Displaywrite file of five of six chapters of a never-completed PhD dissertation, and never worked as an economist since then. I've been a data analyst and computer programmer, I got to work on very early AI applications in hospital management, eventually found a niche in health services research, and now I make a ridiculous salary teaching government employees and contractors how to use Medicare and Medicaid data. The only time I use my econ degree now is when I try, unsuccessfully, to counsel my friends to not buy Bitcoin if they don't understand what the **** they're doing.
... but if one has a knack for programming, one may not need to major at all. Just get whatever credentials you need to get a foot inside the door in the software industry. It's probably useful to signal that you could make it through college, but after a few years, for most jobs worth having at least, no one is going to ask about your credentials as opposed to practical experience and earned respect among other professionals. Show enough promise to impress a few experienced colleagues in your first job, and getting further employment won't be difficult except perhaps during a recession.
How to know if one can make it? Take any introductory programming class/course; if you find it relatively easy, and at least somewhat enjoyable, know that things don't really get any more difficult, at least not within mainstream web development. It's just more of the same; keep honing the craft and within 3-5 years (much like the time required to learn most other crafts) you will basically have it down and, unless you're a very difficult person in general, be a highly attractive employee.
Pecking order in terms of difficulty, roughly, is: Hard Sciences > Econ > PolSci > Sociology. Naturally, there are other majors that can be put in here but only meant to be a rough guide. Anyone with a degree in Sociology with a GPA of 3.0 essentially means they need both hands to count. What History has become at universities is too horrible to speak of, but the market of provides--there are plenty of good books one can buy--worthless to major in History.
I majored in econ but ended up becoming a software engineer anyway. Probably not good advice anymore but my actual advice to my past self would have been to drop out of high school to get a SWE internship as soon as I turned 18
By "highest-paid of all the easy majors" I assume Caplan means graduates with econ majors earn more than any graduates with any other easy major? If so, I guess my question would be, is an econ major practically useful in the business world, or is it just a good credential to have?
FWIW I found my philosophy classes more difficult than my econ classes, although my best class was probably one of my mathematical econ courses (taught jointly with the maths department) where we just got thrown Mas-Collell and were told to get on with it. Probably my most difficult class was my decision theory and social choice class, which was taught in the philosophy department but by an economist.
Mas-Collell? I live in the backwoods of Florida, so ...
Took a year of graduate economics (IN Florida). Only the Chinese could do it (I'm not).