Hello, I’m an economist

I’ve just been back to uni this evening. No, not for classes — having only just graduated over a year ago, I feel I’ve had my fill for now. Instead, I was there to promote the glamorous lifestyle of an economist.

To most, I suspect, this would sound like a tough sell. Economics tends to have a poor reputation in the wider community. Either people don’t know what economists do, or, if they do have some idea, they usually think we can offer tax advice (no, we’re not accountants) or that we can give them tips on which shares to buy (sorry, I’m no financial guru). Those closer to the mark might attack us as the bastards who raise interest rates and cause jobs to be shipped to China.

These limited or erroneous understandings of economics aren’t exactly helped by the lack of clear definition of what the an economist is and they do. In part, that stems from the fact that economics is a broad field. Just like scientists, for example, economists can pursue various fields of interest. Where science has physics, chemistry and biology; economics has monetary policy, international trade, behavioural studies and so on. I’m a microeconomist — I focus on individual industries and markets rather than the whole of the economy. That means if you ask me about what I think will happen with interest rates or unemployment levels, the best you’ll get out of me is a general ‘gut feeling’ — it’s not my area.

However, diversity can’t be the sole reason. After all, many professions are diverse in nature. A podiatrist probably wouldn’t know the finer points of brain surgery, but I still have a pretty firm idea of what a doctor does. Of course, the health system is something we interact with periodically throughout our lives — we go to doctors for treatment when we’re injured or unwell. But who goes to see an economist? In my professional experience, I spend more time soliciting the views of other people than they do seeking mine.

Speaking to university students — and indeed, recalling my own recent experiences as one — this lack of awareness is pervasive. Students studying a Commerce degree have a range of choices — and disciplines like accounting, finance and marketing offer a much more obvious career path from the outset. But what first year student decides at the outset that he or she wants to become a regulatory analyst, a central banker, a statistician, a modeller, an economic consultant, an academic, or something else? I studied economics because I found it interesting — definitely not because I knew where it would lead.

I have for some time sought a concise, but informative, definition of what an economist is. I have said to people that I advise on policy — but that is too vague. I might suggest that we are interested in maximising social welfare — that is too technical. Replacing the phrase ‘social welfare’ with ‘happiness’, while a fair approximation, comes across as too abstract.

I guess the best I can say is that I try to understand how things work — unpacking industries and individual markets, seeing how they tick, and how they might be made to function better. I strive to describe what, ex ante, should be expected to happen — and why, ex post, something has occurred. In essence, I analyse the behaviour of individuals and entities and find the ‘story’ — the theory — that best explains why they do what they do.

I spend much of my time sitting in front of a computer, researching and writing material. That might not sound exciting — indeed, sometimes it isn’t. But I also get to talk to people — discussing and debating ideas with my colleagues, or meeting with relevant affected parties (for example, industry and community representatives) to get their take on things. In my job, every sector of the economy has a story to tell. Uncovering them is what makes this such a fascinating profession.