Economics 9-1 Book Answers
Gordon Neal
I chose to major in economics, because I enjoy learning about human decision-making and how our decisions directly impact our communities and environment. I also appreciate the extreme versatility within the field. Economics is the perfect crossover of research and analysis with human activity. Economic theory reaches into the fields of both STEM and social science, involving studies of areas such as math, politics, and psychology. Additionally, economic theory allows for quantitative analysis and qualitative examination of human and economic interaction in complimentary fields like law, business, finance, consulting, health and athletics.
Our Economics Department provides collaborative learning experience with professors. In the economics classes I have taken, I was fortunate to meet so many brilliant professors who are more than willing to help us learn economics and prepare for our future. I enjoy going to office hours, where professors are willing to explain the class material until I can fully understand and are open to talk about my future plans.
During Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), I had a chance to work as a research assistant for Professor Michael Kuehlwein who was my professor for Principles of Macroeconomics class. We researched the impact of rising minimum wages in Los Angeles (L.A.) on the employment rate of the garment industry in the city. I was fascinated by this topic because the empirical effect of the change in minimum wages is still debated despite the fact that the economic theory suggests that the rise of minimum wages would decrease the employment rate. For our research, after collecting a sample of apparel manufacturing firms in L.A. from 2008 to 2018, we measured the ratios of the employment rates in the garment industry in L.A. to that in the United States as well as the ratios of minimum wages in L.A. to the federal minimum wages over these years. By using ratios, we controlled for other factors that may influence the employment rate, such as the rise of the rent prices and global competition. We ran regressions to measure how the ratio of minimum wages in L.A. to the federal minimum wages, which has been increasing as the minimum wages in L.A. increases rapidly over the years, is correlated with the ratio of employment rate in L.A. to that in the U.S., or how much faster the employment rate is falling in L.A. compared to the national trend. Professor Kuehlwein helped me write my own research paper for the first time, and this experience gave me a glimpse of what it is like to conduct a research in economics.
Pomona College gives us opportunities to explore different subjects, and I believe that economics is the one that is worth being explored. This is not just because of how great our economic department is but also because this subject is intertwined with other fields of study. After taking economics classes, I became interested in other subjects which are also discussed in our economics courses, such as mathematics, politics, and environmental analysis. If you are a Pomona student, I would definitely recommend taking at least one econ class!
During the summer after my sophomore year, I was fortunate enough to have an internship at a private equity firm called the Vistria Group. They buy companies that work in healthcare, education, and/or financial services and try to improve their business models. I was working in the healthcare team and was tasked with creating an investment thesis for the durable medical equipment market, which is made up of things like glucose monitors, ventilators, and other products for chronic conditions. I had to use data from sources such as the Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services and the U.S. Census Bureau to support my argument, allowing me to use some of my economics knowledge in a real world situation. It was a really valuable experience and I also felt like I was doing some good in the world at the same time.
Growing up in Singapore, I was constantly exposed to policies which strived to maximize our benefits given the constraints of our limited natural resources. I had always considered an economics major, but with the vast array of fascinating fields offered, it initially felt difficult to confine myself to a single field of study. However, the beauty of economics lies in its multidisciplinary nature which allows me the flexibility to focus on economics in conjunction with my other interests.
In addition, many students, like myself, also complete an additional major or minor. As an economics and biology double major, I am interested in solving health problems through scientific advancement and allocation of healthcare resources. Within the economics major, I was often given complete freedom to tackle research projects of my interest. In my Econometrics class, I had the opportunity to study the determinants of receiving the Influenza vaccine. I analyzed census data from the Centers for Disease Control and found that education level and race were the largest determinants. I hope to extrapolate these findings and apply them to the upcoming COVID-19 vaccines.
Outside of the classroom, I have explored a wide variety of internships. I gained experience as a research assistant investigating the dancing plant (C.Motorius) before working as a business analyst for StemCord, a biotechnology cord blood bank. This summer, I will be working as a summer associate for a consulting firm in Los Angeles. Hence, I strongly believe that the economics major will ground you with a strong foundation of the quantitative and qualitative skills required for almost any job. Whether your next destination is business, government, graduate school, or something completely different, you will be well equipped to take on the next challenge.
Economics embodies what it means to be interdisciplinary in both its foundational principles and its applications. Taking the introductory economics courses revealed how the discipline served as a baseline for understanding so much about human behaviors, interactions and facets of society. The upper division course selection exposes you to just how complex and diverse the field of study is with classes such as Corporate Finance, Behavioral Economics, and Environmental Economics that have personally helped me to understand how Economics is applicable to so many different fields.
To any prospective students of economics, I will say this: do not be afraid to email professors, even if you have never met them before, and ask for advice on classes, research opportunities or grad school. The department provides you with all the support you may need, but it is up to you to seize it.
Coming into Pomona College I wanted to study something that would leave me with a diverse skill set, challenging both my quantitative and qualitative abilities, and economics does just that. Economics is about understanding behavior and real-world outcomes, and to do that you need to be creative in your reasoning but at the same time grounded in quantitative fact. Economics is also incredibly interdisciplinary and combines many of my other interests in mathematics, politics and sociology into one major. The interdisciplinary nature of the subject leads to a diverse offering of classes from finance courses to courses in development or international relations. The diversity of the major allowed me to find my own niche and granted me the flexibility to apply my economics degree to many potential career paths.
The professors in the Economics Department are truly remarkable. They all have a deep passion for what they teach and genuinely care about your learning. While the courses are challenging, the department provides all the tools for its students to succeed, with regular office hours, mentor sessions, and cohorts. The courses in the major are designed to equip students with a skill set to apply to real-world scenarios and original research. By my second year, I had already written two research papers surrounding my interest in voter trends, by utilizing the skills taught in my Economic Statistics and Econometrics classes. Most importantly the Economics department is filled with a great sense of camaraderie. Everyone is rooting for your success and the department will make any student feel at home.
This past summer I assisted Professor Michelle Zemel and Professor Manisha Goel in their research on economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. My contribution to the research was to prepare a literature review to understand how an abstract concept like uncertainty is measured and what macro and microeconomic effects are expected during times of heightened uncertainty. I empirically tested the different methods of calculating uncertainty, aggregating millions of rows of stock price and forecaster data, to conclude that the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is at historic highs, even more so than the 2007-2009 recession. In addition to my summer research, I also interned at a boutique investment bank. I was working on several live deals in the medical devices and social media industries. During my internship, I was able to see how my studies in economics applied outside the academic setting. I constantly used econometric tools, and both macro and microeconomic theory to aid in my analysis and construction of financial models.
Economics not only offers the opportunity to play with math, numbers and models, but it also enables us to better understand and recognize embedded assumptions in stories and models that drive how people think and interact. It marries stories and reality to models and numbers that we can digest and understand to get a better picture of what the heck is going on in the world around us.
For future students, all I have to say is try it out! Economics is so broad that you could find a niche in any of its verticals. What you learn along the way are the problem-solving mechanisms that will carry over to any occupation or club or obstacle you experience in the future, and faculty are really willing to sit down and help.
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