Answer to Question #70529 in Economics for Elizabeth Tawiah

Question

The marriage between economics and mathematics has been dismal to say the least according to some proponents but yet other proponents applaud this marriage as the marriage of the century. Propose your stand point to this divide.

Answer 1

Math is an integral part of economics. Yes, the concept of money and prices is important to economies, and therefore, economics. But more importantly, economists use mathematical models to predict everything from demand for a good to the unemployment rate to whether or not an individual will get married. The list goes on and on. These models are typically designed as functions. For example, demand for a good is a function of the price of the good, the price of substitute goods, and income. Because of the extensive use of functions in economics, linear algebra and calculus are the primary mathematical tools used by economists. In addition, economists use statistics to test those models, so this branch of math is also used a lot. In fact, there is an entire field within economics called "econometrics" which deals exclusively with the statistics related to economics.
Reference:
https://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/70273.html