A reader suggests that economics, which is often seen as a dry, mathematical field of study, is actually a riveting social science which tells us what the people in a society value, purchase, and save.

Matt responds:

I think you’re absolutely correct in your portrayal of economics and how it identifies a generation, a society, a civilization.  What is important?

I love to watch the various TV series that look at ancient histories, writings, and philosophies.  The learned among us are able to decipher what looks to me like scratches and squiggly lines on the walls of caves and burial chambers, and come up with a whole portfolio of what a particular group of people found important and unimportant, even though there aren’t any buildings, skeletons, or books lying around.

There was a very educated English philosopher when I was in the undertaking business who said:  Show me the method that a culture buries its dead, and I will show you a high mathematical probability of what their culture thought of love, peace, tolerance, and all things that have to do with the spirit.  That’s a very loose interpretation of what he said.

We can also see that when we have economics only for economics’ sake, that greed and envy take over.  “Hurray for me, and the hell with everyone else...”  It’s the old situation of too much of a good thing.  It’ll kill ya.

Your portrayal of the true meaning of economics is very germane.  I think it could teach us all a lesson as we go through these hard economic times—maybe to examine our education system and see if we are turning out people who are rounded not only with economic tools, but also with the culture of a caring, democratic, all-encompassing person, who knows that as part of a group that we call “the species of the human being,” that we have responsibilities other than creating a large bank account.

Thanks for your insight,
Matt