ABSTRACT

In microeconomics the central concept is that of rational economic decision makers optimizing; microeconomics considers the implications of that process of maximization for society as individuals interact. In macroeconomics, undergraduate and graduate education differ; on the undergraduate level students learn modified neo-Keynesian macro modeling in which interest rates, price levels, and income levels are determined in a multi-market model. Unemployed English and history teachers become cab drivers; unemployed economists become successful executives, businessmen, or entrepreneurs. Mundane skills and institutional sensibilities should complement the high-tech analytic skills of mainstream economics. A related argument in favor of formalism holds even if one believes that formal models do no good in helping economists understand the economy. Most college students take at least one course in economics in their career. Economists are talked about by the press as making up a legitimate profession, and they have a large number of publishing outlets.