Do We Teach the Wrong Thing? The Impact of Mathematical and Scientific Background on Economics Success

Abstract

What part of [dK/dL]/{(ykl-pbh*htb s3.mny)}>(n/mtw) (jkl/ptf);nzk-t] don't you understand? For too many economics students and researchers, this question is not a funny joke. Reviewing, reading, understanding and moreover, writing and publishing theoretical or empirical models in economics, especially as required by leading economics journals, is an extremely high challenge. The language is very technical, the required methodology is on the high end of mathematical understanding in terms of propositions, lemmas, theorems and proves and the terminology is clearly non-intuitive. Do we invest enough time and efforts to simplify and train our students to these highly mathematical, modeling and scientific requirements? Do we prepare them to the top research academic career? While developing methods for teaching economics in a more accessible, intuitive and approachable way, and unlike in fields such as engineering and science, there seems to be too little emphasis on establishing background of advanced mathematics in economics. Campbell (2012) argues that even if students often complain that economics education has become too mathematical and they want to learn economics and not mathematics, we are failing them by not providing them the opportunity to develop mathematical ability while earning their degree, and we should embrace educational methods that genuinely develop strong mathematical and statistical skills in our students.