Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Mathematics/2006 November 4

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November 4

Ecconomics degree

What level and type of mathematics is covered on an economics degree course in th UK or US?--Light current 10:10, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

What Im trying to get at is: How much maths to economics graduates astually know!--Light current 19:20, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

I mean do they do as much maths as engineering students for instance. I had to do a hell of a lot. 8-(--Light current 01:19, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Are you asking about a single course or the entire degree? Anyway, I don't know about the UK or US specifically, but I suppose it would include some basics (calculus, linear algebra etc.) and in addition topics such as probability, statistics, operations research, stochastic processes and game theory. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 18:50, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

LOL, those are "basics" ? I think if you are getting a PhD in economics and actually want to be able to derive economics formulae, then you might need all that. To just take a basic course where you simply apply existing theory, I would say you could get by with just regular algebra, and maybe probability and statistics. StuRat 19:00, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Brrr, I don't like it at all when they tell you to just use a given formula without providing any explanation to why it is true. I guess I should stay away from those economics courses. —Bromskloss 16:56, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

I don't know about that. In math, for example, you can accomplish quite a bit using pi without having to know how it's value is derived. StuRat 21:21, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

I think that's mostly irrelevant. You don't have to know the most efficient algorithm for calculating numerical approximations for π, but you do need to know several basic properties of it - such as that it is the ratio of a disc's area to the square of its radius, from which a simple way of numerical approximation can be derived. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 16:45, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

It all depends on the depth in which the topics are studied. I know that my two siblings are studying for a bachelor's in economics & business administration, and they have studied at least some bit about each of the above, and definitely much more than high-school algebra. I can't provide first-hand information as to why these are studied, but it is plausible to assume that applying any theory is impossible if nothing is known about its background. There aren't any "magic formulas" which specify the exact course of action for each economical problem - any given problem should be studied with the appropriate tools.

As for the original question... Those are actually two different questions. The degree program would usually include a fair bit of math; so graduates should know a thing or two, but sadly, this is not necessarily the case. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 19:49, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

0.999.... = 1.

It is sayd in wikipedia's 0.999 article that, Euler on his "Elements of algebra" proved that 9.999... equals 10. Can you tell me in what part of that work appears?

The reference says it's on page 170. 85.194.2.251 17:11, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Note, however, that page numbering may change with each print or translation. StuRat 18:12, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

There's a direct link in the References section. Melchoir 17:19, 4 November 2006 (UTC)