Just a Scramble Idea..

I was initially and am still attracted to macroeconomics and other big economics stuff. However, overtime I was also absorbed by behavioral economics and, to some extent, development economics. In the field of behavioral economics, I have always been intrigued by causes of people's actions and how economics can decipher it in simple ways. This has been partly triggered by my deep interest in philosophy. Even so, I was never thinking of getting serious in conducting research in such fields.

My biggest desire is to conduct research which can explain a classic problem, how nations can grow significantly and how the spectacular growth rates can grease the wheel of developments, as well. Recently, I am particularly interested in the topics of measurement of welfare beyond GDP. I have not been acquainted well enough, though, to find an interesting research topic. In fact, there has not been sufficient development in research exploring the proper set of measurement. GDP is still the champion, as for now.

Anyway, there is actually one research topic that can close the knit together: consumption behavior of people. This topic can be a research topic of behavioral economics and growth and development economics. The consumption theory is my holy grail to attain. I am always curious on how consumption behavior differs or resembles across countries. What are the determinants of it? Is it government policy, education level attainment, or culture? However, I am still not on the ground on cultural argument thing. On one side, I believe that cultural values play important role in shaping habits of people in doing things, including their consumption patterns. On the other side, my economic knowledge teaches me that people are highly likely to be affected by incentives or disincentives. If people in one country are affected by a bundle of above determinants, therefore the consumption aggregates of a country. As such bundle differs among countries, therefore their consumption and saving aggregates and, to large extent, their welfare level.

I have several more ideas to explore in my mind, but I will definitely explore these topics in my further study. In the meantime, I will just have to rekindle my interest and brush up my mathematics skills.