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Which one has better job prospects: finance or economics? Next year I'm going to university, I need to know if finance is better than economics or it's the other way around? What type of jobs do I get with each one of these majors, and lastly which one has a bigger salary. What would you choose?

  • Next year I'm going to university, I need to know if finance is better than economics or it's the other way around? What type of jobs do I get with each one of these majors, and lastly which one has a bigger salary. What would you choose?

  • Answer:

    Uh, is "computer science" one of the allowed choices?

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(I was asked to answer this.) Everything Daniel Egan said. But I'd add: the thing that gives you by far the most options is mathematics. If you want to work for an investment bank or hedge fund, you're sorted. If you change your mind (even quite late in the game) and decide you want to do medicine, or computer science, or indeed economics/finance, you'll be sorted. Even if you want to do law, or consulting, or really any other job/profession whatsoever, you'll be sorted. (In fact you'll be the smartest guy in the room by default.) Combine mathematics with some philosophy - to teach you how to think, write, and be a good person - and you will be extremely well-placed to do anything the hell you want. Of course you will only do well in these if you (i) want to do them, (ii) are reasonably smart, and (iii) work very hard. Finally, if you really do want to devote your life to making money, Google a website called Wall Street Oasis. Everyone on there is like you, asks these sorts of questions, and gets (what appear to be) good answers.

Mike Webb

I'd say Economics over Finance. At some level, Finance is just a sub-discipline of Economics. It's mathematical modelling specifically applied to capital decisions. I'd also say that it's usually quite easy for someone with a degree in economics to understand most financial concepts and mathematical models, but not vice-versa. Econ deals with incentives and dynamic behavior more than finance. This makes it "deeper". You can learn things about trade, how countries develop, how you model government as an economic actor which you wouldn't in Finance. Economics gives you more choice after graduating. It's easy to go from Econ to many fields (government, policy, think tank, business, finance), but harder to go from straight finance to them. You'll learn more personally interesting things in Econ. Market failures, adverse selection, game theory, moral hazard, etc. I encounter these ideas all the time in the real world, and it's great to know ways to think about them. Caveat Emptor - I have an econ degree, but work in finance. I've take a few finance courses, but I don't have a full degree in it.

Daniel Egan

Before getting into employment prospects, it is important to understand how finance and economics are related. First, economics is a far more generic field.  Finance as an academic discipline (as opposed to a vocation) is a specialty area of economics.  Roughly speaking, economics deals with the quantities and prices of any good or service produced or consumed within an economy; finance deals only with "financial assets" like money, stocks, and bonds and is thus more narrow.  So the decision of finance vs. economics as a major shares many trade-offs with any other sort of specialist/generalist decision.  Specifically: Finance is more of an applied field.  If you enter a finance-related position out of school (say at a bank or in a corporate finance department) you are more likely to find your education directly applicable to your work than if you had studied a general field like economics. On the other hand economics, as a more general field, may open a wider range of doors.  Suppose you decide finance is not for you, and want to pursue a career in sales or marketing or in government.  An economics degree will probably prove more relevant. Specialists are generally paid more (in my experience at least) as they are harder to replace. All that said, my honest advice would be to try to figure out which is more interesting to you and study that one.  Do you like quantitative, math-intensive study?  Finance may be a better fit.  Enjoy pondering big questions about society and the economy as a whole?  Economics could be for you.  Frankly, if you are doing only an undergraduate degree, your level of specialization will not be that deep, so for the purpose of job hunting to an extent it doesn't matter what you study except insofar as it demonstrates your interest and commitment to that field.

Richard Warfield

If I had to choose over these two I would take Economics. Not because of the course content but because of the wider variety of people that attend Economics courses. Finance courses tend to be populated primarily by students that are looking to get into finance/investment banking - a career path that attracts primarily money focused individuals. Nothing wrong with that, but you will miss out working with a more diverse set of people you will find in economics that make university education what it is : a life and character changing event shaped by the people that surround you. In terms of salary, I do not think it varies much between the two majors, the brand name of the university will be the primary factor in your starting salary. Finally if I had a wider choice (and a time machine myself !) I would do none of those. I would probably max my experience, job prospects and long term benefit by doing philosophy or mathematics and take some economics & finance courses.

George Cotsikis

There's no real "better," it depends on your interests. Economics is more broad than finance. Finance looks at how companies make money, economics looks at how the world makes money. There is a ton of overlap between the two as far as future job prospects are concerned, unless you want to pursue a doctorate degree (PhD in the states), when economics might be the better choice. (Although there are certainly PhD's in finance - some who have won Nobel prizes.) "What makes more money?" kind of makes me cringe, as either course of study can put you in position to land an investment banking job (which, if you survive, will make you a TON of money), as long as you land in the top of your class at the "right" school. However, you had better love what you do, because you pretty much have to give up the first 5-10 years of your adult life to claim all that money. 100+ hour work weeks. I'm not knocking it - some people really love investment banking, and more power to them. Just be VERY careful what you wish for. As long as you can find a job that pays a comfortable salary, make it a job that doesn't feel like "work," where you "skip to work every day" (paraphrasing Warren Buffett.) Working "for the money" loses its luster VERY quickly.

Doug Mewhirter

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