Do You Have a Child or Spouse Going to College? Consider Economics

By John F. Sase, Ph.D.
Gerard J. Senick,
  Senior Editor
Julie G. Sase, Copyeditor

“How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature which interest him in the fortune of others and render their happiness necessary to him though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it.”
— Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (A. Kincaid and J. Bell, Edinburgh, 1759)

This month, we will take a break from our series entitled Attorney as Hero/ine’s Journey for a word from our sponsor—Economics. With the number of high-school, college, and university graduations that are happening around Metro Detroit, we feel that now is an appropriate time to address the importance of the field of Economics as a course of study. Therefore, we turn our attention to the market for undergraduate degrees in Economics, graduate programs in the field, and the evolution of the science and philosophy of the subject. We feel that the knowledge of Economics is especially beneficial to attorneys and other professionals. Shortly, you will see why.

As many of our readers know, I (Dr. Sase) have been with the Department of Economics at Wayne State University since 1986.  Over the decades, I have taught more than ten thousand students, including a number who have chosen to go on to Law School. Some of our readers may have been in one of my classes or have had family members or friends in them. To attorneys and paralegals, I want to remind you of the relevance of obtaining an undergraduate degree in Economics or of taking courses in Economics combined with a major in Business, Engineering, Political Science, or a number of other fields.

At Wayne, we are fortunate to have Stephen J. Spurr, J.D., Ph.D. as the current Chairperson of the Department of Economics. (WSU offers a J.D./M.A. program jointly with the School of Law.) Many of our readers may be familiar with Dr. Spurr, who teaches the course entitled “The Economic Analysis of Law” at the university, through his book Economic Foundations of Law (Southwestern/Thomson Learning, 2004).

The Market for an Undergraduate Degree in Economics

While some degrees limit graduates to a narrow employment sector or industry, a degree in Economics gives the graduate a wider scope and versatility and opens options across the private, public, and academic sectors and throughout numerous industries. Many graduates holding an Economics degree obtain employment as staff economists in the private and public sectors. They build careers in academia, government, and industry. Those interested in positions within the business sector may find work in manufacturing, retailing, market research, or consulting. Some of my (Dr. Sase’s) students pursuing degrees in Economics express an interest in becoming a professional economist, an attorney, or a paralegal.

While at university, students of Economics often develop fields of concentration that translate personal abilities and interests into chosen careers. Those graduates who lean toward work in government often search successfully for positions in the Departments of Finance, Commerce, Labor, Agriculture, Transportation, and Trade at both the federal and state levels. Other graduates move onward to develop careers in the private sector at financial institutions, chemical companies, or medical facilities, to name but a few. Those plying their skills and knowledge of Economics may seek positions with specific job titles, such as Financial Advisor, Securities Analyst, Investment Advisor, or Insurance Actuary.

Typically, professionals working at such institutions and companies have developed high-level skills in written and verbal communication, applied statistics, and general computer knowledge. In addition, most professional jobs for economists include some work with financial data. Therefore, an interest in and an understanding of higher mathematics provides job candidates with a definite competitive edge.

Though direct employment in academia is limited without an advanced degree, opportunities exist within secondary education. Here, a graduate may teach Economics, Civics and related social-science courses as well as Personal Finance. However, students with an undergraduate degree in Economics can enter into ninety-credit doctoral programs in which Masters Degrees or their equivalency can be earned en route. In such programs, students gain work experience simultaneously with their studies as either teaching assistants or research assistants. These assistantships pay livable wages and often provide health insurance and other benefits.

Those Econ grads who do not go directly into the job market may pursue an advanced degree. Some choose to go for an MBA while others opt to enter Law School. More than a few continue onward for advanced studies in Economics. For those who choose to follow this path, aspiring economists will devote as much time and energy to earning their doctorates as law students devote to earning their J.D. degrees and to passing the Bar Exam. Both professions require three years of course study. However, an average of one to three additional years is needed for students of Economics to research and write their dissertations and to get peer-licensed through an oral defense of their completed work. Therefore, it is a rare achievement for a graduate student to earn a Ph.D. along with a J.D. (Congratulations, Dr. Spurr!)

Advanced Degrees

Throughout graduate programs, a wide range of feasible paths may be taken at both the Masters and Doctorate levels. Some students find it fruitful to combine a Masters Degree in Economics with an MBA in Business, an MS in Engineering, or similar degrees in a number of other fields. As mentioned earlier, graduate students can combine a Masters in Economics with a J.D. in Law.

Completion of intermediate work in Economics prepares students to breathe the rarified air of Advanced Economics. In this field of study, students take courses that involve higher mathematics, take a series of comprehensive written exams, and survive until they have attained the ABD level (All but Dissertation) with completion of two-thirds of a doctoral program. All that you must do then is to find an original topic, do some research on it, run some regressions on collected data, analyze the results, write/rewrite/rewrite (ad infinitum) a book on your topic, and defend it orally to a committee of four mentors. If you succeed, they will accept you into their peerage and award you your license of the Ph.D. After that, you go home, look into the bathroom mirror, look at your hair that has greyed (though not fifty shades) in the past few years, and ask yourself if it was worth it to get to the starting line. This starting line that has been reached equips the newly minted Ph.D. with a wide range of choices that include top-level professional work — writing, teaching, consulting, doing research, and other pursuits in a wide gamut of industries and institutions in the academic, public, and private sectors. 

Dr. Wesley R. Fischel, an economic-expert on Southeast-Asian affairs, took a leave from teaching at Michigan State University to serve as a consultant to Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam, in the 1950s. In the early 1970s, I (Dr. Sase) met Dr. Fischel, who encouraged me to enter the field of Economics. He was an important influence on me, at that time a bohemian multi-disciplinary humanities student. Dr. Fischel showed me that the possibilities of Economics are limited only by the imagination. These possibilities can be seen throughout the history of Economic thought.

The Evolution of Economics

The field of Economics embodies both Social Science and Social Philosophy. The social-science aspect leans more to the quantitative aspect while the social-philosophy element tends toward the qualitative. As with the discipline of Music, Economics engages both the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

Over the past four centuries, the emphasis in the field of Economics has moved like a pendulum between these two points. The current emphasis on quantitative economic analysis arose during the fourth quarter of the nineteenth century. As a result, those familiar with Economics are less likely to have read The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Scottish Economist Adam Smith, which concentrates on jurisprudence, ethics, and charity, than his later book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (W. Strahan and T. Cadell, London, 1776), which focuses on rational self-interest in a free-market economy. Many economists believe that reading the first book is a prerequisite for understanding the second.

Do You Know the Way to Santa Fe?

Toward the end of the twentieth century, some economists began to turn their attention to the further development of Complexity Theory, which is based on the earlier works of French philosopher Tielhard de Chardin, Swiss anthroposophist Rudolf Steiner, American mathematician Stephen Smale, and others. Over the past couple of decades, the American economists Kenneth Arrow, Philip W. Anderson, and their colleagues at the Santa Fe Institute, an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in New Mexico, have been developing the concept of the economy as an evolving complex system. The interested reader can find their early work published in The Economy as an Evolving Complex System, (Santa Fe Institute Series, Westview Press, 1988). Meanwhile, a number of leading economists, such as Raymond C. Battalio and Robert J. Shiller, have begun to explore the interface between Psychology and Economics through the emerging subfield of Behavioral Economics.

Attorneys and Economics

So, what are the ultimate benefits for attorneys and other professionals in the mind-expanding field of Economics? It will increase your understanding of human life and the behavior of human beings as well as clear the cobwebs out of your minds. How can this knowledge improve law practices and make more money for attorneys? Most cases across the practice areas of law include an economic element in the behavior of individuals and groups. Consequently, the knowledge of Economics will provide the attorney with a clearer understanding of the realities that arise in each case. In addition, this knowledge will help the attorney to evaluate each case by using a more sophisticated approach. By recognizing the total economics of the case, the attorney stands a better chance of settling early or of winning at trial. Therefore, we encourage you or your young protégés to consider Economics as a field of study.

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Dr. John F. Sase has taught Economics for thirty-five years and has practiced Forensic and Investigative Economics since the early 1990s. He earned an M.A. in Economics and an MBA at the University of Detroit and a Ph.D. in Economics at Wayne State University. He is a graduate of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School. Dr. Sase can be reached at 248.569.5228 and at drjohn@saseassociates.com. You can find his educational videos of interest to attorneys at www.youtube.com/saseassociates.
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Gerard J. Senick is a freelance writer, editor, and musician. He earned his degree in English at the University of Detroit and was a Supervisory Editor at Gale Research Company (now Cengage) for over twenty years. Currently, he edits books for publication and gives seminars on writing and music. Mr. Senick can be reached at 313.342.4048 and at www.senick-editing.com. You can find some of his writing tips at www.YouTube.com/SenickEditing.
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Julie G. Sase is a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. She earned her degree in English at Marygrove College and her graduate certificate in Parent Coaching from Seattle Pacific University. As a consultant, Ms. Sase coaches clients, writes articles for publication, and gives interviews to various media. Ms. Sase can be reached at sasej@aol.com and Quill2Keyboard.com.