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Penang (Pulau Pinang) is one of the most developed states in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. It has a long history of being a trading port since the 14th centuries due to its strategic location at the northwest peninsular Malaysia along the Malacca strait.
The State of Penang consists of an island and a nearby land which are called Seberang Prai, and has one third the size of Singapore. It is one of the top island destinations for local and international tourists.
Besides tourism, the existence of Bayan Lepas industrial park as the first free trade zone in Malaysia has become Penang’s main economy. It has become the port for manufacturing assembly work for electronics and electrical industries.
However, Penang's economy hasn't been doing well since the astronomical setbacks in the tourism industry in 2020 due to the pandemic recession. Nonetheless, the development of Penang’s physical infrastructure and economy has been falling behind a few other rapidly growing regions in Malaysia.
The economic growth in Penang has endless opportunities to move further ahead. Penang is well integrated with the global supply chain so it needs to take advantage of its strategic location facing the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, and progressing towards globalization and outsourcing into developing new markets such as modern service sectors, processing and the innovation of new products.
Is learning Economics crucial at this time?
Definitely! The whole world is suffering from the global pandemic recession, which won’t be cured for quite a while. It is estimated to recover for at least another 2 years or it can be up to 10 years too!
During this time, being a good economist is in-demand to help in the planning and executing for the recovery processes.
Can Economics be Self-taught?
Economy does not lie in sparing money, but in spending wisely.
-Thomas Henry Huxley
In the modern world, knowledge is boundless. You can learn new things by just clicking on your keyboard or smartphone. Even Economics can be learned easily by yourself.
Besides learning from the internet, you can get a good read from books to get a grasp on the concept of Economics. The following are the recommended books that you can buy at any bookstore or get e-books that you can buy at shopee or book depository.
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyasaki
- Law's Order by David D. Friedman
- Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
- Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell
- The Wealth and Poverty of Nations by David S. Landes
- Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan
- The Price of Inequality by Joseph Stiglitz
- The Origin of Wealth by Eric D. Beinhocker
- The Undercover Economist Strikes Back by Tim Harford
You can start learning Economics as early as 15 to 16 years old. There are Economic courses offered in high school. You will need to pass Mathematics in order to be able to pursue Economics without much difficulties on your road.
Fret not, if your math is not that well, you can still study Economics as its units and variables are not the same as mathematical terms and equations. But bear in mind, the journey will still be a challenging one.
Later in the article, Superprof will explain the relationship between Economics and Mathematics.
Unfortunately, most topics in Economics are very thorough and in depth that are kind of hard to self-taught. By having an Economic teacher or tutor, they can help you on determining the right bottom lines and concepts that you need.
What’s important is, if you wish to make a career by learning Economics, you can only do so after you acquire a recognized degree from any reputable university or college. Self-taught Economics won’t make you an expert in Economics, but it just increases your knowledge in the subject.
So, the best way to start learning Economics is by taking Economic courses and you can also learn from experts.
You are free to check out the Economic courses in Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur.
What is the Relevance between Economics and Mathematics?
When you are thinking about furthering your tertiary study in Economics, you should do some research on what courses you’ll be taking during your study years. To get your hands on a degree certificate in Economics, it will take roughly three to four years at university.
If you don't do well in mathematics, or didn't take math during your foundation or A-Level, you will have a tough time coping with the Economic related courses. These are some of the courses that you’ll take to get your Economics degree.
- Quantitative Economics
- Statistics
- Mathematical finance
- Analysis
- Advance mathematic
- Macroeconomics
- Microeconomics
- Experimental and behavioral Economics
- International trade
- Econometrics
- Development Economics
However, the courses above will differ according to where you are going to further your study and the major course that you are going to take. Some Economic courses have been integrated with either finance or accounting majors.
Mathematics and statistics are not that overwhelming if you take Economics during undergraduate studies, but you can never run from encountering them.
When you learn further, having a substantial knowledge in mathematics especially in algebra and statistics are beneficial and important as it aligns with Economics. These math techniques will be the basic understanding for you to use Economic modelling either in macroeconomics or microeconomics.
As you can see from the list of courses, there is a course called econometrics. Econometrics is the study of Economics using statistical techniques. In the overall Economic course, mathematics can take up 50% of the total learning modules.
If you are still in your high school years and would love to pursue Economics as your future career, it is suggested that you also take additional mathematics along with modern mathematics. You should be able to do well in Economics if you manage to understand and score your modern mathematics’ paper.
Are you not confident with mathematics?
Superprof has a line of mathematic and Economics experts that can help you in your study too! You can even filter the list of tutors based on the location and your preferred lesson method, either by online, private or in a small group.
Find out the Economics tuition centres in Melaka.
What Companies Hire Economists?
There are numerous jobs available for economists ranging from small private companies to governmental agencies. Most often, economists are hired by banking industries and financial industries.
Most of the Economics graduates have the opportunity to work at their desired company. This is the best privilege only available for Economics graduates. To compare with other graduates, especially science majors, they usually learn sciences but after graduating, they will work at any private companies working as executives without any relation to their studies.
This shows that the demand for economists is high. In Malaysia, Economic graduates can easily land a job and are recruited by commercial banks. The minimum wages for fresh graduates can be as high as RM 3,500 which is above average compared to other types of majors.
Here is the list of where you can get hired as an economist.
- Bank Negara Malaysia
- IDEAS.
- Alliance Bank
- CIMB
- Citibank
- HSBC
- Frank Knight
- Frost & Sulliva
- GlaxoSmithKline
- IBM
- KPMG
- Asia Strategy
If you are in Putrajaya, check out Economics classes in Putrajaya.
What Are The Best Economic Courses in Penang?
If you are looking for Economic courses in Penang, the answer would be Universiti Sains Malaysia which is one of the top 5 best local universities situated in Gelugor, Penang. They offered a standalone economic course from undergraduate degree until post graduate degree. However, only one third of the programmes are offered in English medium.
You can also start your foundation in Business that offers several courses in Economics, Finance and Business that are well designed to enhance the solid foundation for SPM school leavers to make a great progress towards their tertiary studies. You can enrol at Tunku Abdul Rahman University College at Tanjung Bungah.
Besides that, you can take a look at Segi College, Penang located in George Town. Here you can take a Business or Finance Degree that has Economic courses in their programme. Wawasan Open University also offers the same Business degree but with a different programme structure that will also teach you macroeconomics and microeconomics.
You can prepare yourself before going to a university that has a focus on math by enlisting the help of an Economics or math tutor. This can help speed you up with the key numerical skills that you need for your first year in university.
Still feeling unsure or uneasy about applying to study Economics at university? Superprof offers professional and quality Economics tutor to guide you through your academic journey.
You can conduct a thorough search for Economics tutoring online, and you might encounter several tutoring sites including personal adverts from mudah.com or personal blogs. However, you wouldn't be so sure on the actual qualification and experience that they have.
At Superprof, every tutor will have to be verified before they can launch their profile. On a plus side, you can also read reviews from the tutor’s past students. Hurry and look at Superprof Economic tutors near you or any Superprof global tutors available for online tutoring.
Check out this guide in Economic courses in Malaysia.
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