Specialization

The entire body of human knowledge has become so vast that there is no way one can be well informed about all important matters. Just 400 or 500 years ago lots of people with above average intellects were able to be excellent musicians, physicians, scientists, explorers, linguists, and philosophers. All in the same person; all at the same time. The Renaissance man.

What got me to thinking about this is today's analysis of why some countries have been so badly affected by the current economic downturn by the Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman. He notes that at the same time other countries have escaped the worldwide downturn almost completely unaffected. His article explores why there is such a big difference between the losers and the survivors.

I have a great many areas of specialization that I have focused-in on over the years. Many I intentionally chose to learn about because I found them interesting or intellectually exciting. Some I just blindly stumbled upon seemingly by chance, and then before I knew it I was deeply immersed and then gradually became fanatical and excited. Others I was forced to learn about, and at the time I wasn't at all excited about at it either!

Economics and Accounting both fall into the last category. In my twenties I was dragged kicking and screaming into learning about both disciplines. But now I am incredibly glad that I did end up taking so many undergraduate and graduate courses in both economics and accounting. One of my great interests in life is how we as a species can improve the lives of the vast majority of humans who do not have clean and safe running water, access to health care, flush toilets with sanitary treatment facilities, refrigerators, and healthy food which is not subject to famines nor contaminated with industrial chemicals or pesticides. Greed, deception, and the capitalist way of organizing our finances have resulted in the horribly destructive boom and bust cycle. Time after time. This cycle goes back at least to the time of the Roman Empire. And almost always the rich end up even better off, and the poor or middle classes pay for it all. Since the 1960's the destructive idea of deregulation has had a lot to do with this.

One cannot understand what is happening with extreme wealth, crushing poverty, the Wall Street crooks, or the economies of entire countries without a strong educational foundation in both accounting and economics. Without the cornerstone of this knowledge one is ignorantly shooting in the dark. This is a link to Krugman's article. Anyone who considers themselves as well educated should read this. Its not a long piece, and he hits the nail right on the head.

LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/opinion/08krugman.html



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