Example Economics Personal Statement
My wish to study economics has grown out of an increasing interest in current affairs in the media, and my growing sense that most things in the public world come down to considerations of finance. I am deeply interested in how the world “works”, and the way that politics is so deeply intermeshed with economic realities and the availability of resources. Economics is intriguing because it offers ways of predicting future events and a system of “laws” like a science, and yet it is not exactly the same as a science because of the uncertainty that is central to any analysis of human behaviour. It also has the attraction of immediate relevance. The present economic crisis is momentous, with wealthy countries suddenly, in a few months, coming to the edge of bankruptcy, and the new economies of Asia suffering the disappearance of the markets that have given them prosperity. To work in this field, and to run a business equipped with a sound knowledge of economics, seems to me to be of the utmost human importance and offers great professional satisfaction.
The economics I have already studied has given me a good insight into the way the subject affects our lives. The May general election appeared to me to be a sort of contest between the “Classical” and “Keynesian” theories. I have read widely in the subject, including books by Niall Ferguson, Robert Skidelsky and John Cassidy (How Markets Fail), Dasgupta’s Economics. A Short Introduction, Kay’s The Truth About Markets and Joseph Stiglitz’s Globalisation and its Discontents, and I read The Economist regularly. I am keen to study the ways that consumers behave, how monopolies distort markets, and the balance between markets and human welfare. I am also interested in macroeconomic issues such as the interaction of the main sectors of the economy – production, finance and the labour market. The amount of money in the economy, the way aggregate spending is determined and its relation to supply are fascinating questions. There is much to learn and the concepts are complicated, but the interest, both intellectual and human, is consuming.
I have some experience of the world of business economics; I had a placement as an assistant manager at “Kazakh Altyn”, a joint stock company dealing in mining and metallurgy, where I worked in the international affairs department. I was involved in financial modelling with a group of experts, and I wrote translations of papers from Russian into English. I sat in on company meetings and observed the formulation of company policies. It was a thrilling taste of the reality of the world of big business and international economics. I also had a brief internship at the Kazakh Embassy in London, working as an assistant to the ambassador and writing translations of papers. It was exciting to be at the heart of international affairs in this way, and helped me to develop my communication skills and my ability to work with others in a team.
At school I had a very active life. I attended the after-school economics workshop, where we discussed current affairs and argued about economic theories. I was also a keen sportsman, playing football and rugby for the school team, which was good training in self-discipline and cooperation. I also worked in a drama competition as a director and actor.
I am polylingual, having Kazakh as my mother tongue, and fluent Russian and English, a great asset in the modern globalised business environment. The career options open to someone equipped with an economics degree seem immensely diverse and thus very attractive. Economics is a subject that I feel touches on nearly all human activities in some way, from political decisions to questions of household management and planning how we as individuals wish to live. I have a good academic record, and can promise to make a great success of a degree course, and I hope you will consider my application.
This example Economics personal statement should be used as a point of reference when composing your personal statement on your path to university education.