Of the many many subjects I have studied, from kindergarten in 1995 to college, by far my least favorite has been economics. I've never been able to wrap my head around it... until recently that is.
My high school econ teacher was wonderful. He tried to explain the subject using analogies involving dolphins and tucking his hand into his shirt sleeve when talking about the "invisible hand" theory. He made econ fun, but it never fully sank in. In college, my professor was an evil little man whose 8a.m. class was the first and only class I have fallen asleep in. The class gained a notorious reputation for being impossible, even among the engineering brainiacs down the hall from me in the dorm. Needless to say, I didn't learn much from this class either.
So when I walked into the Rayburn House Office Building for an interview about the implications of China's economic surge on the Illinois manufacturing sector, I was pretty nervous. I had done my research of course, but my previous failures in the realm of economics still daunted me. When the interview was over, I was shocked to hear a complement from the Congressman on how much I seemed to know on the subject. He said I was well prepared. When I returned to my apartment to write the story, I discovered from my notes that I had actually conducted a good interview on economics! And when I wrote the story, I knew what I was talking about!
So moral of the story, for me at least, the best way to learn economics may not be from a text book or amusing analogies, but to throw it in the context of something you do understand or enjoy, like politics. Or maybe it's to have to talk to a US Congressman about it haha.
My story ran on Sunday. Check it out HERE!
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