Vocabulary:

broad outlook — широкая перспектива to encourage me in my desire — поощрять меня в моем желании a blind choice — слепой выбор a sudden flash — внезапная вспышка to opt — выбирать(решить) to arise — возникать to get interested in — заинтересовываться to affect — затрагивать to be concerned — быть заинтересованным to justify the hopes of my parents — оправдывать надежды моих родителей wide range — широкий диапазон, круг, область, сфера to run — управлять to raise money for charities — собирать деньги на благотворительность

CLASS 3

TASK: Work out a role-play based on texts (3, 4, 5, 6) . You may use exercises given below.

• Exercise 2. Please discuss with your group advantages and disadvantages of your future profession. Do you think that economic profession is prestigious? Is it well-paid? How difficult is it to find a good job in this field?

 

3. The profession of an economist

An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are many sub-fields, ranging from the broad philosophical theories to the focused study of minutiae within specific markets, macroeconomic analysis, microeconomic analysis or financial statement analysis, involving analytical methods and tools such as econometrics, statistics, economics computational models, financial economics, mathematical finance and mathematical economics.

Professions

The professionalization of economics, reflected in academia, has been described as "the main change in economics since around 1900." Economists debate the path they believe their profession should take. It is, primarily, a debate between a scholastic orientation, focused on mathematical techniques, and a public discourse orientation, which is more focused on communicating to lay people pertinent economic principles as they relate to public policy. Surveys among economists indicate a preference for a shift toward the latter. However, these preferences expressed in private often differ with what is actually acted out in the public eye.

Most major universities have an economics faculty, school or department, where academic degrees are awarded in economics. However, many prominent economists come from a background in mathematics, business, law, sociology, or history. Getting a PhD in economics takes six years, on average, with a median of 5.3 years.

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, established by Sveriges Riksbank in 1968, is a prize awarded to economists each year for outstanding intellectual contributions in the field of economics. The prize winners are announced in October every year. They receive their awards (a prize amount, a gold medal and a diploma) on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

Economists work in many fields including academia, government and in the private sector, where they may also "...study data and statistics in order to spot trends in economic activity, economic confidence levels, and consumer attitudes. They assess this information using advanced methods in statistical analysis, mathematics, computer programming [and] they make recommendations about ways to improve the efficiency of a system or take advantage of trends as they begin."

In contrast to regulated professions such as engineering, law or medicine, there is not a legally-required educational requirement or license for economists. In some job settings, the possession of a Bachelor's or Master's degree in economics is considered the minimum credential for being an economist. However, in some parts of the US government, a person can be considered an economist as long as they have four or more university courses in economics. Also, a person can gain the skills required to become a professional economist in other related disciplines, such as statistics or some types of applied mathematics, such as mathematical finance or game theory.

A professional working inside of one of many fields of economics or having an academic degree in this subject is widely considered to be an economist, and any person within any of these fields can claim to be one.

In the private sector, professional economists are employed as consultants and in industry, including banking and finance. Economists also work for various government departments and agencies, for example, the national Treasury, Central Bank or Bureau of Statistics.

Economists are also employed in banking, finance, accountancy, commerce, marketing, business administration, lobbying and non- or not-for profit organizations.

Politicians often consult economists before enacting policy, and many statesmen have academic degrees in economics (see List of politicians with economics training).