I'm an Economics teacher, ask me anything

[Phineyj]

I'm also half way through quarantine after catching Covid so I've finished all my marking for the first time in approximately ever and am bored bored bored. What have you always wanted to know about Economics but never dared ask?

[bizboz]

DH is head of Business and Economics at a secondary school. He finds it impossible to recruit teachers. Do you find you have your pick of jobs?

[SpeckyWithTheGoodHair]

Is there a positive economic argument for Brexit?

[Phineyj]

Well, there's certainly a shortage of good applicants, so if I really want something then I can generally have it (I am an Economics specialist and don't do Business much though, so I probably wouldn't go for a job that was mostly Business). But the thing that stops me changing jobs is that schools never give the information up front that actually matters: class size, timetable (as in, what would you actually teach), school start and finish times, expectations of evening and weekend working, whether the SLT are complete bastards (to be fair, who'd communicate that ?). So as you have to tell your current employer you're looking, I wouldn't look unless the job was irresistible because it'd have a risk of messing up my hard won work-life balance.

[Phineyj]

Interesting question, Specky. Well, yes there is and it's to do with the restrictions that EU membership placed on the UK, such as freedom of movement (which benefitted the people moving greatly and provided cheap labour for e.g. construction and agriculture) but which had a number of other effects such as triggering population growth in the SE and E and increased competition for jobs, schools and housing. So we benefitted from these immigrants as a country generally but individuals and areas may have lost out. We also paid more for foods for many years due to the massive subsidy on farming (that mostly went to French and German farmers).

But I didn't want BREXIT as I thought it would be a giant supply side shock and because I didn't believe there was capacity to deal with the fall out effectively, and so it has proved.

[middleager]

My one teen is considering studying Economics at A-Level. He's never studied it before though and I know this is the case for most teens.

How does Economics differ from Business Studies? Is Economics regarded as a stronger A-Level than BS? As a parent with crap skills in those areas, I'm struggling to understand the key differences.

[Phineyj]

Get your boy a copy of The Economics Book (Dorling Kindersley) and dip into it together. You will definitely get a flavour of the issues involved. The video series Economics 101 and Marginal Revolution University on YouTube are good too, as are the Tim Harford podcasts on BBC, 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy.

Economics is harder than Business Studies, yes and more impressive to universities (but Maths A-level is actually more useful for Economics degrees).

There's a Business book in that Dorling Kindersley series too.

You need at least 6s in Maths and English (7s if CAGs/TAGs) but a genuine interest in the issues is essential.

[TreborBore]

Do you have an opinion on Doughnut economics? I recently came across this article: time.com/5930093/amsterdam-doughnut-economics/

[middleager]

Thanks OP!

He is aiming to take A-Level Maths and Further Maths, so Economics would work with those.
Will check out those resources.

[OneRingToRuleThemAll]

I'm an economics undergraduate. Why all the maths? It is sooooo maths heavy!!

[Phineyj]

Great combo Middle - do encourage him to consider his essay writing skills though as those are important!

[Phineyj]

OneRing I know, it can be painful! I found the Maths quite easy but a) I think it was easier in the 1990s and b) I did a BA with History so I didn't do much Maths after first year (apart from a bit of stats in environmental economics). One could argue this emphasis on Maths led us to the financial crisis. The human element is very important. Hang in there and if you need cheering up, watch the Sesame Street video with Ian McKellen ('resist')

[Phineyj]

I like Kate Raworth @trebor (the Doughnut lady). She is a terrific public speaker and makes sense. But sadly, she will never catch on as a) she's female b) she's funny and c) the Americans spell it donut.

[Phineyj]

www.tutor2u.net/economics/store/literacy-skills-workbook-for-a-level-economics Middle, if essays bring the lad out in a cold sweat, get this -- it's all learnable.

[Cattitudes]

Other side of the coin to middleager! How difficult would it be to do economics A level without having done GCSE economics and not doing A level Maths? Maths is solid but not enjoying applied, really likes statistics and can get support at home with statistics but doesn't want to do A level because of the applied and pure. Aiming for career in politics/ social policy/ environment.

[NutellaEllaElla]

What is Economics?

[Cattitudes]

Strengths are humanities would probably do with geography and another subject.

[Phineyj]

It would be fine Cat. The A-level is a humanity subject with lots of essays. The only issue may be if he really falls in love with it, the lack of Maths will limit university Econ choices (but there are ways).

[Phineyj]

Nutella, it's the study of incentives and how to use scarce resources most efficiently. In my taster lessons I give students 30 hours on a kidney dialysis machine to allocate and ask them to choose from a list of patients.

[Phineyj]

[NutellaEllaElla]

That's talking my (NHS) language! So Triage is Economics. Thank you

[Phineyj]

Yes! Very good example! Thanks for the great questions guys. I'm at least 50% less bored than before I started the thread.

[Cattitudes]

Thanks, I think we are heading more for extinction rebellion than Canary wharf so hopefully will be OK without economics degree.

[WhatsWrongWithMyUsername]

An economy question I can’t be bothered to find out myself- what is the apparent labour shortage and higher inflation going up do to our economy over the next few months?

And WHY is there a labour shortage? Is it just brexit plus the boomer generation starting to retire? I know covid shook up people's priorities, and people on social media say it’s because employers don’t pay enough, but people can’t live off thin air (or benefits), particularly with increasing costs. Where have they gone! Combined with soaring house prices and a great deal of consumption (try getting any home improvements done), it doesn’t add up. Has everyone made shed loads on Bitcoin while I wasn’t paying attention??

[Isthisthereaklife]

Is straight economics a useful degree?

Ds doing A level economics and loves it (with maths and geog)

[TreborBore]

@Phineyj

I like Kate Raworth *@trebor* (the Doughnut lady). She is a terrific public speaker and makes sense. But sadly, she will never catch on as a) she's female b) she's funny and c) the Americans spell it donut.

Thanks, it’s depressing that these factors are more important than the quality of her ideas but realistic. I don’t know much about economics so this thread is really interesting, thanks for starting it.

A big question - can economics play a part in tackling the climate crisis? Or is capitalism part of the problem?