In 2014, I was working in the London stock and bond market. In a mad moment, the unexpected occurred. The Swiss National Bank suddenly decided to lower the interest rate to 4.5 percent. In less than a week, I lost a half million pounds. Naturally, like anyone else, I was severely shocked. As a graduate of the economics college with a Masters in Economics, I behaved very academically. I started bringing my textbooks to the office. I read, blogged, and tried to understand what was happening in the market through theories and models. Beside me was a young man named Edward. Edward didn't have a college degree in this field, but he was a natural stock trader. Quick to grasp things. Smart. He understood the market with his own eyes, not through books. He left me alone for the first day, then two days. On the third day, he turned to me, took the book and books from my hand and threw them in the trash. Then, in a decisive tone, he asked me what the hell I was doing? Do you think we're in a lecture room? Do you think we're in a university hall? If you want to understand how the economy works, you won't find it in the covers of books or textbooks, especially those taught in universities. Go and ask your mother how she's managing the month. What income is enough to cover her expenses this month? Ask your friends if they can afford their rent. Look around you. Walk through the city streets. Pay attention to the advertisements. Notice which shops are closing down. And which ones are opening in their place. The ones that closed or where they closed. Observe the number of homeless people on the streets. Has the homeless population increased? Are there more people than before sleeping on sidewalks and roads? This is the real economy. Not what is written in theories, but what is experienced on the streets. This is the real world. In that moment, I realized that economics is understood not just through numbers and charts, but through people, through life itself.
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