How mathematical is a double major in finance/economics? (1 Viewer)

[Hatake88]

Hi guys,
Does anyone know how much calculations would be involved if I choose to major in finance & economics? I've done first year economics (as well as first year econometrics) and while the maths wasn't really maths (more like understanding economic models) a fair amount of calculations and abstract thinking was involved. Is second/third year going to be the same or even worse?

 

[Shadowdude]

In short, not very. In finance you'll just end up plugging numbers into equations and Year 10 maths, while in Economics you'll have to learn some interesting stuff like optimisation which uses some level of mathematics - but not too much I think.

Economics will be more of a worry for you maths wise I think, so I think it'll go down south if you're not good at it but it shouldn't be too much. All I know is that some ECON Level 2 courses use some "high level maths" (which they dumb down so you can rote learn it).

 

[wrong_turn]

economics after the first year you should gain a better understanding of how finance models work. a lot of it is to do with the different theoretical models you may have learned in first year but at a more detailed level. And if you are luckly, second year econometric courses will be part of your economics major.

Being able to understand theoretical theories and rote learning them is great academia but beyond the classroom, understanding the concepts and also the maths is perhaps more vital to a lot of business related jobs out there. You will find a lot of managers to be people-managers than strong data driven managers.

 

[seremify007]

Finance typically involves you choosing your subjects beyond the core/basics- and you can always go down the qualitative rather than quantitative subject route. e.g. Corporate Governance instead of Options valuation.

Economics however is much more quantitative/model focussed... and if you're not keen on numbers, I probably wouldn't go down this path either for academia or career wise.