Why did you select such a random combination of majors?

Imagine an economist. Ben Bernanke wearing a suit, sitting in an office, crunching numbers and stressing out about the dozens of spreadsheets containing less-than-promising data that reflects the current economic state.

Imagine a communication scholar. A pleasant human resources representative (with a personality resembling Professor Harrigan), smiling and listening intently as she either talks to prospective employees or manages conflict between co-workers.

At first glance, communication and economics do not seem related at all. And in fact, when I selected them I didn't pick them because they were similar; I just liked them both.

It is not surprising then that my favorite aspects of each major intertwine. Since I like economics, my favorite aspects of communication are closely related to economics and vice versa. Trying to find connections between communication and economics, one realizes that they are actually quite similar! In fact, both economics and communication theories attempt to explain why people do what they do. Economics predicts trends in how groups of people altar their economic choices in response to changes in factors like prices, wages, or a PR campaign that lets the world know the health consequences of excess dairy consumption. Communication theories attempt to explain patterns of behavior and interaction between people. Putting them together, aha! Behavioral Economics is born.

My favorite example of this connection between economics and communication uses game theory to explain power within interpersonal relationships. See the next post for more information!