The Art of Economics

I love playing my clarinet. The combination of a dark and earthy tone, the feeling of vibrating wood on my fingers, and the sight of notes on a page gives me a sense of familiarity that is relaxing and centers my focus. When playing solo or in an ensemble, I am applying the many hours of practicing and learning to continuously analyze my sound and create a musical experience for myself and any listeners.

As a craft that I have been refining for the past ten years, my experiences as a musician have inspired me to find art in all aspects of life, even economics research. I believe economics research can be considered an art because I am applying knowledge and understanding I have acquired over many years as a student to create economic models and uncover relationships not seen. The data my partner and I are analyzing contain thousands of samples and numerous variables that we will sort through in the weeks to come. Just as an instrumentalist uses specific equipment and a practice routine to create their best sound possible, an economist uses particular tools and methods to accurately research, collect, and analyze data to identify relationships between variables and policies that are best for the economy. For example, Emily and I will be using a fixed effects regression and selecting control variables to account for variation in the data. The art of economics research is in the way economists select variables, choose a method to examine those variables, and fit all these steps into a purposeful plan to find answers to questions and create new opportunities for further work.

When listening to a music ensemble, the audience does not see the sound waves produced by the instruments, but the waves are still present. Only the instrumentalists think about how the unseen sound waves are produced and overlap to create music pleasing to the ear. Comparable to the deeper analysis musicians perform, economists evaluate the effectiveness of programs, policies, and social decisions to determine what is productively and efficiently affecting the economy. This deeper analysis exposes the unseen factors that influence the economy and people’s behaviors. I enjoy environmental economics because it is interesting to learn about the many human behaviors (recreation, agriculture, manufacturing) that affect the environment and how we can mitigate the negative externalities associated with all these behaviors. It can be easy to ignore the impacts our decisions make on the environment, but if we pursue an understanding of our influence on the environment through the art of economics research, we are one step closer to a more sustainable, healthy world. 

Boat tour of Lake Menomin