Why economics is relevant

IF NOT for the overarching philosophy of com passion in scientific practice pushed by Flo rence Nightingale, the founder of modern professional nursing, humanity wouldn’t have found its best allies beside its sickbed.

Nursing students in their sophomore year goes through that solemn ceremony of putting to heart Nightingale’s pledge, and that pledge bears the line “will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping.” The modern version, containing 135 words, has the following lines: “I will not do anything evil or malicious and I will not knowingly give any harmful drug or assist in malpractice. I will not reveal any confidential information that may come to my knowledge in the course of my work.”

Last week, a video of the late 23-year-old Gembe Casas circulated on social media. Bathed in blood on a hospital gurney, he was an emergency case bearing gunshots to his cheek, left arm, shoulder and leg. He was a drug suspect who reportedly fought back during apprehension. While he inefficiently gasped for scant air, we didn’t see palpable efforts by the hospital staff to immobilize him, remove the risk of Casas slipping off the stretcher. Instead, we heard voices, one of them saying the battered man wouldn’t survive anyway; another concerned herself with domestic laundry, as though hinting that the dirt that Casas was to her wasn’t worth professional time.

For one moment, it was like looking over the shoulder of a cheerful crowd during a public execution. Reports said a hospital staff took the video and circulated it among colleagues, and it was another colleague who uploaded it on social media. Obviously, there was zealous interest to expand audience.

Just what were these bunch of medical practitioners thinking? Better yet, just what were these bunch of persons doing in that profession? The whole act—from apparently not giving the vulnerable Casas the due immediate care, to the taking of the video, to the blatant display of a mindset lacking in compassion and sensitivity, to the uploading of the video on social media—shows an obvious displacement of values. We see nothing but ruthlessness in a supposedly humane profession.

The aspect on video taking and uploading can be punishable in legal terms. But the whole act, from A to Z, shows an outright disregard of professional ethics. The profession should quit them.

WHILE I was talking to our potential en rollees for AB in Economics during the Xavier Ateneo open house, a handful of students asked several questions on the importance of Economics as a pre-law course, why Mathematics is part of Economics, and the chances of getting employed if they graduate in Economics.

Those are valid questions that every teacher in Economics must be able to clarify. Some students find disinterest in the course because of graphs and numbers. I must admit that Economics was not my first choice. Way back in High School my dream was to either become a journalist or a political scientist. Fate placed me in Economics –even took further studies after college graduation to closely understand it.

Simply put, Economics give life to numbers. We can’t just associate inflation as one of the unintended consequences of certain government policies or forecast that the Philippines will become an upper middle-income country in the next few years without showing statistics and numbers that support it.

It is important to understand the costs and benefits of flagship programs, through empirical studies that use models, to be able to show if it made the lives of its target beneficiaries better-off. There is no such thing as subjective and emotional (normative) statements in Economics without giving claims that can be tested, amended or rejected by empirical evidences (positive). One can only give a value judgment after looking at all possible evidences that either support or reject the idea at hand.

Numbers are important in Economics because people’s lives and future are at stake. But Mathematics is only one of the many languages in Economics. Mathematics, although is itself an important subject, is not the only tool that Economists use in explaining complex economic relationships.

Economics is also a good pre-law course. Take it from my friends in Law School as one of their first few subjects require them to know the basic factors of production. A wise Lawyer argues with facts backed with empirical studies and statistics to be able to give a robust claim. Above all, what is to be learned in Economics that is important in law is the analytical skills. The purest definition of Economics is making the best of what we have.

Everything in this world is scarce, be it money, natural resources, even time and energy. Economics studies how to arrive to an optimal choice (not just a mere choice) given constraints and limitations. In lawyering, not all evidences are available. Sometimes the law itself is limiting but how do you maximize the facts at your hand and take it in your argument’s favor makes one a premier Lawyer.

Lastly, there are vast job opportunities out there that an Economics graduate can grab. Economics is composed of a lot of fields of expertise, be it in business economics, environmental economics, international trade, and even behavioral economics.

A good marketing requires understanding on consumer behavior. A good financial analyst must articulate the tools in macroeconomics and its importance in ensuring a strong and stable economy. Economists can also work with different disciplines like in Engineering, Agriculture and even in Nursing and Education. These disciplines require an understanding of economics also.

In this contemporary world, Economics is more relevant and important than ever. The World Economic Forum (WEF) identifies several skills needed in 2020 -– the time for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (the period of robotics, autonomous transport, artificial intelligence, machine learning and the likes). As WEF explains, over one-third of the skills that are considered important in today’s workforce will have changed by 2020.

The “future of jobs” looks at employment, skills, and workforce strategy for the future. Most of the skills identified by WEF can be acquired through Economics, such as complex problem solving, critical thinking, people management, judgment and decision-making, and cognitive flexibility. These are the skills that the leading