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About me:
About my "About Me."
Hi. I'm verbose. So... good luck and have fun. This might take a while to read. =)
Fiat currency! What's yours valued at?
I spend a lot of time studying, but it's worth it. -- I've never had a class I couldn't pass. ^_^
Why am I majoring in Economics instead of a "hard" science like Physics?
-- Well, first off there's an oversupply of Physics Ph.D.'s and an undersupply of positions/funding for them. This is currently the case and it is projected to continue through 2014 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I'd like to be able to get a job if I manage to complete a Ph.D. program and Econ is far more suitable in that situation. Secondly, the basic tenets and principles of economic theory just seem to be in sync with and sort of "click" with me. I find this important because many of my peers seem to think that most of what we're learning is rather counterintuitive at first.
Perhaps more importantly though, it seems to me that many of the great problems of the world are at their heart, truly problems of an economic nature more so than of any other nature. Take for instance the problem of hunger. There does not at this time exist a true shortage of food production capability on this planet. So, even a dramatic technological breakthrough in food production is unlikely to solve world hunger, especially since such technological breakthroughs are most likely to occur in places that can spend significant resources on research and based upon that, are not currently starving. Assuming that food production in places where food production is already relatively abundant (and high waste is prevalent) were to further increase, the most likely outcome is greater waste of food with only a small percent of the overall increase in food going to the starving persons. It is far cheaper to simply let the excess food go to waste than it is not only ship it to, but also distribute it to individuals in a location that is far away and quite poor, such as Africa, for instance.
Growing up, I saw a lot of the "scarcity of resources" concept that is central to (almost all) economic theory. I'm not saying that I was the least wealthy child ever, but rather that I was good at devising solutions to problems and then being unable to implement them. Despite having a sound solution, having no resources with which to implement that particular solution is generally only marginally better than having no solution at all. -- It might actually be worse... since you've spent valuable time devising the unworkable solution that could have been spent gathering other resources or devising workable solutions to other problems.
I thought for a long time that I would be an inventor, engineer, or scientist of some sort. Consider how economic forces affect the first of these occupations: I would often hear about a new device which seemed to be a great idea and quite wondrous, but then nothing would come of it. Sometimes the inventor couldn't find a way to convince a company to manufacture or carry his product. Other times, no one would be willing to buy it for what it cost to produce. Basically, economic forces were preventing the production of these products, despite the implementation of an upgrade of some sort over what was currently being produced.
It is a bad idea to try to build a company around a product as, no matter how good that product is, it can eventually be imitated by a competitor. Rather, would-be entrepreneurs should seek to build companies around successful processes that allow for a changing product or service line.
Thomas Edison said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." He also said, "Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. It's sale is proof of utility, and utility is success." I agree with his statements. I think that having good ideas is not terribly difficult. Successfully implementing them, on the other hand, often proves to be.
Who I'd like to meet: Alan Greenspan, Arnold Schwarzenegger and other famously successful individuals with degrees in Economics. I'd also like to meet Lance Armstrong and Lou Ferrigno.
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