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Human: What is a profession or field that combines economics with artificial intelligence? What could be a future or current field or profession that combines these two areas and how? Assistant: Economics itself. Machine learning is used to find interesting features of data sets, correct for bias, and find functional forms of models. See Athey	Human: What is a profession or field that combines economics with artificial intelligence? What could be a future or current field or profession that combines these two areas and how? Assistant: A book was just released today that might have your answers. Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence by Ajay Agrawal, Avi Goldfarb, and Joshua Gans
Human: What are examples where unionization ruined a business, or all members become worse off afterwards? I get why board members of corporations might prefer workers not unionize, \(profits could likely decrease due to works asking for higher wages/benefits, better/safe work conditions, which come at a cost\). But are there examples of how unionized workers could fuck things up for themselves? For example, if I wanted to unionized myself and my coworkers, what historical lessons should I learn from? How should I not fuck up the business that I rely on for my wage? Assistant: The SDA union in Australia. Bargained with big employers to screw over their members because they hated abortion and communists.	Human: What are examples where unionization ruined a business, or all members become worse off afterwards? I get why board members of corporations might prefer workers not unionize, \(profits could likely decrease due to works asking for higher wages/benefits, better/safe work conditions, which come at a cost\). But are there examples of how unionized workers could fuck things up for themselves? For example, if I wanted to unionized myself and my coworkers, what historical lessons should I learn from? How should I not fuck up the business that I rely on for my wage? Assistant: Public sector unions in general have hurt the public for decades. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/03/02/public-sector_unions_deserve_to_be_destroyed_136413.html
Human: Does having a college degree result in higher pay than average, no matter what type of job you have? Hey, guys, I was having a discussion with my friends about employment and they told me even if you get a job with a degree that has nothing to do with that job you are more equipped to ask for a raise. For example, I have a friend who currently works in sales at a moving company. She is currently pursuing a degree in criminal justice. Her degree does not give her any useful skills to be better at her job. She says the reason why she could ask for a pay raise is that getting a degree and finishing it shows that she is committed. I think this reasoning is flawed. Any thoughts. Assistant: This is a common discussion in economics: is education more about signalling or real skills. Your friend explanation is basically what the signalling theory says. An employer can't see a workers ability or skill level, but getting an education can act as a signal. That is your friend getting her degree shows her boss they are more likely to be higher skill and can earn a higher wage.	Human: Does having a college degree result in higher pay than average, no matter what type of job you have? Hey, guys, I was having a discussion with my friends about employment and they told me even if you get a job with a degree that has nothing to do with that job you are more equipped to ask for a raise. For example, I have a friend who currently works in sales at a moving company. She is currently pursuing a degree in criminal justice. Her degree does not give her any useful skills to be better at her job. She says the reason why she could ask for a pay raise is that getting a degree and finishing it shows that she is committed. I think this reasoning is flawed. Any thoughts. Assistant: The question in your title and the question in the body of your post are a bit different. I mean if you have a job flipping burgers or working as a convenience store clerk then it is hard to imagine a degree leading to a higher wage. But if you had a degree you likely wouldn't be doing those jobs. "sales at a moving company" is pretty vague since sales can mean a few different roles.
Human: Is Economics a good degree for a job in finance or banking? I’m currently studying economics in college and was wondering if I could find a job in finance or banking in the future? I would double major in Econ/finance but the university doesn’t allow for that, I can only minor. I know that banks usual recruit from top tier college, business school at that, and I go to an average university. Is an Economics major suitable for banking or should I be looking to transfer school? Assistant: I honestly think you’d be surprised at what degrees are “needed” to get hired at a bank. Unless you’re looking for a very specific high level position. I’m a hiring manager at a top 6 US bank and I’ve hired English majors, and a boat load of general business administration, accounting, marketing, etc degrees. The degree itself mean about 10% of what I’m looking for in a candidate. Most of the time the college itself is irrelevant unless you’re looking to make $150k+ out of college.	Human: Is Economics a good degree for a job in finance or banking? I’m currently studying economics in college and was wondering if I could find a job in finance or banking in the future? I would double major in Econ/finance but the university doesn’t allow for that, I can only minor. I know that banks usual recruit from top tier college, business school at that, and I go to an average university. Is an Economics major suitable for banking or should I be looking to transfer school? Assistant: Its absolutely is a good degree for that field. I will warn you though, that the competition is extremely tough when trying to get into that field
Human: What is the best way for me to learn Economics? Hi there, I'm currently trying to learn Economics, but I don't know if I'm doing it the most optimal way. I took two eco classes in college a few years ago, I watched all the Economics videos on CrashCourse. Currently I'm going through Economics textbooks (actually I'm on my first one) from an University near me and I watch Jacob Clifford's videos on youtube. Are there any other resources (youtube videos, blog, some subreddit or online community, different kind of books) that would help me? How would you sturcture your study if you were in my place? Thanks! Assistant: I'm going to give an off-the-wall suggestion, if you don't mind a certain amount of mathematics: Economic Theory in Retrospect, by Mark Blaug. It is a historical introduction to economic theory. One weakness of popular books on economics, or even introductory textbooks, is that they try to evoke what it's like to do economics, without actually communicating how economics is done today. Blaug introduces economic theory roughly in the historical order it was developed.	Human: What is the best way for me to learn Economics? Hi there, I'm currently trying to learn Economics, but I don't know if I'm doing it the most optimal way. I took two eco classes in college a few years ago, I watched all the Economics videos on CrashCourse. Currently I'm going through Economics textbooks (actually I'm on my first one) from an University near me and I watch Jacob Clifford's videos on youtube. Are there any other resources (youtube videos, blog, some subreddit or online community, different kind of books) that would help me? How would you sturcture your study if you were in my place? Thanks! Assistant: Kahn Academy is brilliant. https://economics.stackexchange.com/
Human: At what point does growth for the sale of growth become unsustainable? Economics is, on some level, based around the idea of limited resources/inputs. This is interesting to me when I consider how private capital operates; growth for the sake of growth. Publicly traded companies are judged on how much they grow each year as their metric for further investment. But at some point, resource constraints will reach a level where further growth is unsustainable (at least for a large % of people). Sure, we can become more efficient at using resources but every cycle of increasing our targets for growth means there is an ever higher bar. I'm very far from an expert but trying to wrap my head around this is a little confusing. The best way I can make sense of it is that we are gambling that resource availability is somehow consistent over time. Assistant: From what I understand of this comment by a quality contributor in this sub, economic growth can continue indefinitely. There doesn’t have to be a limit. This is because economic growth is not completely dependent on the use of ever more natural resources.	Human: At what point does growth for the sale of growth become unsustainable? Economics is, on some level, based around the idea of limited resources/inputs. This is interesting to me when I consider how private capital operates; growth for the sake of growth. Publicly traded companies are judged on how much they grow each year as their metric for further investment. But at some point, resource constraints will reach a level where further growth is unsustainable (at least for a large % of people). Sure, we can become more efficient at using resources but every cycle of increasing our targets for growth means there is an ever higher bar. I'm very far from an expert but trying to wrap my head around this is a little confusing. The best way I can make sense of it is that we are gambling that resource availability is somehow consistent over time. Assistant: Y = AF(K, L) K= capital (resources) L= labor A = TFP/technology Y= output Y can come from increasing K,L (inputs) - extensive growth or from better utilization of the inputs(A) - intensive growth. for US most of growth comes from A.
Human: What good online course I should take to learn fundamental of economics? Hi, I'm so sorry if I post at the wrong sub, I'm kind of desperate to find the right one to ask the question. I’m planning to study but the program requires me to have a basic knowledge of economics. I want to learn it online. Are there any good sources I should take? I'm looking something that offers a good basic understanding of : * Microeconomics * Principles of Corporate Finance * Macroeconomics * Econometrics or Advanced Statistics I found a good course on Coursera but it's paid and I'm still trying to get financial aid. It would be better to have something cheaper but offer a certificate. It will also better if it comes from a respectable university. I'm not sure, to be honest, I'm sorry I'm so lost on this. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you so much. Assistant: I can vouch for this Microeconomics course on Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/learn/microeconomics/home/welcome I've watched the videos, and they're pretty good. I point my students to the course when they need supplementary materials. It's $49 for a certificate. That seems reasonable, but if you can't afford that, they actually offer scholarships to help pay.	Human: What good online course I should take to learn fundamental of economics? Hi, I'm so sorry if I post at the wrong sub, I'm kind of desperate to find the right one to ask the question. I’m planning to study but the program requires me to have a basic knowledge of economics. I want to learn it online. Are there any good sources I should take? I'm looking something that offers a good basic understanding of : * Microeconomics * Principles of Corporate Finance * Macroeconomics * Econometrics or Advanced Statistics I found a good course on Coursera but it's paid and I'm still trying to get financial aid. It would be better to have something cheaper but offer a certificate. It will also better if it comes from a respectable university. I'm not sure, to be honest, I'm sorry I'm so lost on this. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you so much. Assistant: You can check out Marginal Revolution University for some high quality introductory courses.
Human: How big is the burden of obesity on the economy? To use a thought experiment, if we kill of all obese people, would that be a net positive for the economy - or do individual obese people contribute to the economy enough to be a net positive, even if less than a fit person? I often read about how much obesity is costing a given country, but the numbers are usually pretty bland and unexplained figures similar to "The US spends X billion a year on obesity and related health problems". But all this figure tells us is literally that there's a certain number spent on these healthcare costs - but literally nothing else. Obviously there are more healthcare costs for the obese individual than the relatively fit individual - but obese people are (In 99% of cases) employed people who not only pay taxes, but also add to the economy through their employment - but obviously less than a fit person, in general. The framing of the economic problem of obesity is often that "It's costing the economy money", but is that sensationalised? Do obese people contribute a total net positive to the economy? I hope this question doesn't come off as incendiary - I don't think people's value come purely from their estimated economic value. I'm curious because I had a hard time finding information about this topic, and because it might enlighten me on how media sensationalises economic topics. Assistant: Even if obesity clearly causes several costs, these costs should be extremely high in order to be larger than the net contribution a working obese person does to the economy. A rough way to look at it could be to measure the GDP per capita for obese workers and substract the discounted annualized health costs generated by obesity. My guess is that the difference would be positive by large, hence obese people are not a cost but they may make a smaller contribution to the economy	Human: How big is the burden of obesity on the economy? To use a thought experiment, if we kill of all obese people, would that be a net positive for the economy - or do individual obese people contribute to the economy enough to be a net positive, even if less than a fit person? I often read about how much obesity is costing a given country, but the numbers are usually pretty bland and unexplained figures similar to "The US spends X billion a year on obesity and related health problems". But all this figure tells us is literally that there's a certain number spent on these healthcare costs - but literally nothing else. Obviously there are more healthcare costs for the obese individual than the relatively fit individual - but obese people are (In 99% of cases) employed people who not only pay taxes, but also add to the economy through their employment - but obviously less than a fit person, in general. The framing of the economic problem of obesity is often that "It's costing the economy money", but is that sensationalised? Do obese people contribute a total net positive to the economy? I hope this question doesn't come off as incendiary - I don't think people's value come purely from their estimated economic value. I'm curious because I had a hard time finding information about this topic, and because it might enlighten me on how media sensationalises economic topics. Assistant: Walmart would cease to exist as we know it.
Human: What are the short term and long term effects of all the tariffs that have occurred under the trump admin? Looking for a subjective economic view not a politics debate I thought they were stunting GDP growth in the SR but would prove to be economically beneficial in the LR? Are these tariffs long over due and needed to even the playing field or are they ill advised? From an economic viewpoint, I’m having a hard time understanding if these are the correct thing to do? Assistant: There were two recent NBER papers about the short-run impact of the Trump tariffs, which were both summarised here. They estimate a net loss to the US of about $10 billion per year, mostly in the form of higher prices for consumers in the US.	Human: What are the short term and long term effects of all the tariffs that have occurred under the trump admin? Looking for a subjective economic view not a politics debate I thought they were stunting GDP growth in the SR but would prove to be economically beneficial in the LR? Are these tariffs long over due and needed to even the playing field or are they ill advised? From an economic viewpoint, I’m having a hard time understanding if these are the correct thing to do? Assistant: It is too early for any studies to produce findings of notable substance imo.
Human: What US President had the best economy? Assistant: These kind of comparisons aren't usually very useful. Policies affect the economy for many years after they are implemented. Also, shocks to economies from foreign sources are essentially random. So, the state of the economy during the presidency of X is not a good way to assess how wise the economic policies of that president were.	Human: What US President had the best economy? Assistant: What do you mean by "best"? Highest GDP growth? Milton Friedman estimated that the economy grew at around 3.8% per annum in the 1880s, making it the decade with the highest average economic growth. The presidents who oversaw this were: Rutherford B. Hayes, (1877-1881) James A. Garfield (1881) Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885) Grover Cleveland (1885-1889) Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
Human: How would the Federal Reserve function if the US government had zero or negative debt? Currently the Fed puts money into the system by buying US debt, and takes money out by selling debt. How would it attempt to achieve price stability and full employment without this method? Assistant: You can operate a central bank by buying and selling foreign currency in order to conduct monetary policy.	Human: How would the Federal Reserve function if the US government had zero or negative debt? Currently the Fed puts money into the system by buying US debt, and takes money out by selling debt. How would it attempt to achieve price stability and full employment without this method? Assistant: I don't think there was a FED at the time, but here is a part of the story. http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/08/07/158376579/episode-273-when-the-u-s-paid-off-the-entire-national-debt
Human: Are worker cooperatives a realistic alternative to low wage, unskilled labor markets? (Retail, Fast Food, etc.) Obviously I'm not arguing for Venezuela-style nationalization and collectivization of industries, I'm just curious if these types of worker-owned firms could alleviate poverty and finance healthcare and education for their workers to enter the skilled/educated job market or start a business/co-op of their own. I know it's pie-in-the-sky to think Walmart-style service jobs could go away for something with a little more dignity, but what do the economics say? I heard Nordic Countries are doing well with no minimum wage but strong labor unions, which have all but disappeared from the US. Assistant: If they were efficient they would already exist.	Human: Are worker cooperatives a realistic alternative to low wage, unskilled labor markets? (Retail, Fast Food, etc.) Obviously I'm not arguing for Venezuela-style nationalization and collectivization of industries, I'm just curious if these types of worker-owned firms could alleviate poverty and finance healthcare and education for their workers to enter the skilled/educated job market or start a business/co-op of their own. I know it's pie-in-the-sky to think Walmart-style service jobs could go away for something with a little more dignity, but what do the economics say? I heard Nordic Countries are doing well with no minimum wage but strong labor unions, which have all but disappeared from the US. Assistant: I'm the founder of two successful worker co-ops, both in a relatively higher-wage sector (IT). I'm not an economist, though there are some that promote them quite seriously: Richard Wolff, Gerald Friedman, Seymour Melman, Gar Alperovitz, David Schweickart, etc. Also checkout /r/cooperatives.
Human: How would a world minimum wage look like in a world government? Assistant: This is so far removed from the actual political situation, that I can't imagine this will get a decent answer. If the world was completely different, what would it look like, isn't gonna get meaningful answers here.	Human: How would a world minimum wage look like in a world government? Assistant: What do you mean by "what would it look like"?
Human: The inverted yield curve is "meant" to signal a recession, how many times have we seen this with _no_ recession? does it ever flash a false positive? Cant find the data but im sure its somewhere on FRED Assistant: It has a false positive rate of 22% and for some reason people are only looking at the false negative rate.	Human: The inverted yield curve is "meant" to signal a recession, how many times have we seen this with _no_ recession? does it ever flash a false positive? Cant find the data but im sure its somewhere on FRED Assistant: To the other answers, I would like to add that inverted yield curves have historically been very good predictors of recessions in the US. Outside the US, inverted yield curves are still associated with recessions but there have been more false positives.
Human: I've seen alarmist TV shows making conspiracy theories that "Fort Knox is actually empty" . Would that even have any actual economic implications? Assistant: I agree partially with the others. The gold stock itself probably isn't so important. However, there's also the reputation of the US government. If it were true that the gold stock is smaller than claimed, then that would cause them credibility problems. That would have effects on other things because investors would come to question other statistics produced by the government.	Human: I've seen alarmist TV shows making conspiracy theories that "Fort Knox is actually empty" . Would that even have any actual economic implications? Assistant: Idk why we even still have gold reserves tbh Shows how little it matters
Human: Which class would you choose and why? Game Theory vs Econometrics. I am a finance student in my last year of college. I need to choose between one of those classes to get my minor in Economics. Which one would you think adds more value to a degree? Assistant: Econometrics 100%. I disagree with the other comments, econometrics is more fun than game theory. Econometrics taught the wonder of the very cool things data could do, and every case study was fascinating, and it completely changed the way I thought about data. Game theory was just mountains of messy algebra with no connections to anything meaningful in the real world. Was not the slightest bit fun. Could have just been my college though.	Human: Which class would you choose and why? Game Theory vs Econometrics. I am a finance student in my last year of college. I need to choose between one of those classes to get my minor in Economics. Which one would you think adds more value to a degree? Assistant: One thing other posters haven’t said is Econometrics is required for grad school.
Human: Is it just me, or has every company been just understaffed and overworked since 2008? I've worked my whole life in the U.S. and I'm old enough to have started working before 2008. I've also worked in a variety of places my career, geographically, big company, small company, government, environmental, mechanical, electrical, manufacturing. I don't know if it's just nostalgia, but I definitely remember that before 2008, deadlines were realistic, and somewhat important. As many articles, studies and memes will tell you, after 2008 layoffs, people were told to do the job of 2 or 3 people. And that never seemed to change in my experience. Ever since then, it seems like projects are on the tightest of margins. One person going on vacation at the wrong time ruins everything. The people that do things are scrambling to get stuff done the night before. There's no admin help to take care of the stuff like purchasing and travel arrangements, you need to do it all yourself. The modern day engineer is so overworked and overcommited and over-depended on for projects that it's absurd. And in my experience projects do end up slipping or having bad endings when the single point of failure leaves. No one's loyal to the company and we're all moving around for raises. So latent problems just get passed to the next generation like a hot potato. People develop an existential attitude of "it's not my problem, I'm just here for 40 hours, maybe for a couple of a years". Covid has added a whole new level to the malaise of most people. I understand that this is the most logical and rational and self serving way to work, but it does feel like the pride and camaraderie and sense of accomplishment in engineering is gone. The MBA-style of management has reached it's asymptote, there's nothing more they can squeeze from us. A lot of people have that attitude from the old Soviet Union - "They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work". Some the of the places I've worked have me scratching my head at how it stays in business. I myself have had stretches where I've hopped places, getting raises without ever having produced a deliverable. Am I just romanticizing the past, or did the way engineering projects are organized at work really permanently change after the 2008 financial crisis? It kind of makes me sad. Assistant: Read up on Jack Welch and his management style, he changed the industry for the worse. https://marker.medium.com/how-jack-welchs-success-wrecked-the-idea-of-the-american-company-eddc1bc05f78	Human: Is it just me, or has every company been just understaffed and overworked since 2008? I've worked my whole life in the U.S. and I'm old enough to have started working before 2008. I've also worked in a variety of places my career, geographically, big company, small company, government, environmental, mechanical, electrical, manufacturing. I don't know if it's just nostalgia, but I definitely remember that before 2008, deadlines were realistic, and somewhat important. As many articles, studies and memes will tell you, after 2008 layoffs, people were told to do the job of 2 or 3 people. And that never seemed to change in my experience. Ever since then, it seems like projects are on the tightest of margins. One person going on vacation at the wrong time ruins everything. The people that do things are scrambling to get stuff done the night before. There's no admin help to take care of the stuff like purchasing and travel arrangements, you need to do it all yourself. The modern day engineer is so overworked and overcommited and over-depended on for projects that it's absurd. And in my experience projects do end up slipping or having bad endings when the single point of failure leaves. No one's loyal to the company and we're all moving around for raises. So latent problems just get passed to the next generation like a hot potato. People develop an existential attitude of "it's not my problem, I'm just here for 40 hours, maybe for a couple of a years". Covid has added a whole new level to the malaise of most people. I understand that this is the most logical and rational and self serving way to work, but it does feel like the pride and camaraderie and sense of accomplishment in engineering is gone. The MBA-style of management has reached it's asymptote, there's nothing more they can squeeze from us. A lot of people have that attitude from the old Soviet Union - "They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work". Some the of the places I've worked have me scratching my head at how it stays in business. I myself have had stretches where I've hopped places, getting raises without ever having produced a deliverable. Am I just romanticizing the past, or did the way engineering projects are organized at work really permanently change after the 2008 financial crisis? It kind of makes me sad. Assistant: I mean the way I see it customers aren’t interested in legit project timelines right now, and if there aren’t any penalty clauses and they refuse to accept realistic schedules then they will need to live with the “delays” they get.
Human: Fellow Engineers: Have you ever been trapped by a person with a "perpetual motion" invention idea? Thinking to a cousins husband here. He said you could utilize piezoelectric crystals to provide the "good energy" that you get from walking barefoot into your body. I was nearly comatose from Thanksgiving dinner and couldn't move. My wish was to be anywhere else. The fat feelings wouldn't let me get up from the chair. He couldn't interpret my facial expressions wishing for release from this mortal coil, so he kept on talking for a good 30 min. Have an example of a similar situation where someone comes up with a ridiculous "invention" that has no feasible way of working? Assistant: I once overheard a guy at the mechanic saying that he raised his back wheels so his car would always be going downhill.	Human: Fellow Engineers: Have you ever been trapped by a person with a "perpetual motion" invention idea? Thinking to a cousins husband here. He said you could utilize piezoelectric crystals to provide the "good energy" that you get from walking barefoot into your body. I was nearly comatose from Thanksgiving dinner and couldn't move. My wish was to be anywhere else. The fat feelings wouldn't let me get up from the chair. He couldn't interpret my facial expressions wishing for release from this mortal coil, so he kept on talking for a good 30 min. Have an example of a similar situation where someone comes up with a ridiculous "invention" that has no feasible way of working? Assistant: I once had a flat mate who insisted he could power his car by using the battery to electrolyse water into hydrogen and oxygen, then burn that gas mixture in the engine (along with petrol) and get more energy out than he put in.
Human: Engineers who bailed on engineering, what do you do now? And are you guys happier? Assistant: I know two people who were petroleum engineers (husband and wife). Both are now doctors.	Human: Engineers who bailed on engineering, what do you do now? And are you guys happier? Assistant: These posts give me hope.
Human: Have you ever met an engineer coworker who does zero or close to zero work? Have you ever met someone at your company who did 0 or close to 0 work yet never got fired? How did they get away with it? Assistant: >Nervously reading this thread to see if I'm mentioned anywhere	Human: Have you ever met an engineer coworker who does zero or close to zero work? Have you ever met someone at your company who did 0 or close to 0 work yet never got fired? How did they get away with it? Assistant: I'm a software engineer. My whole job is to build things that make me do 0 work. Unfortunately every time I get a problem to the point it is 0 work, people keep having new problems.
Human: Do you guys actually enjoy being an engineer or did you mostly become one because people/society told you the positions are lucrative? I've worked other career fields and in my personal opinion, engineering kind of sucks. I enjoyed schooling. But I don't necessarily want to become a professor or go back. I would wager most of us are somewhat overthinkers. And my brain just doesn't turn off. This was probably a good thing 500 years ago. If my problem was "I don't know when my next meal is" or "I want to have easy access to water" then it would be very reasonable for my brain brain to constantly think of solutions. But now I can overthink EVERYTHING. When I'm showering, going to bed, random ideas and solutions for work problems just pop in my head. This is just how my brain works, and if I was using these solution processes for personal matters or home projects I'd be ecstatic, but I don't get to choose, well the ones that stress me out the most probably get priority. I'm not sure I'm going anywhere with this. Just kind of ranting I guess. Assistant: 2.5 years an engineer. I don’t enjoy it but I had to pick something when I was 18 that I have to do the rest of my life so here I am	Human: Do you guys actually enjoy being an engineer or did you mostly become one because people/society told you the positions are lucrative? I've worked other career fields and in my personal opinion, engineering kind of sucks. I enjoyed schooling. But I don't necessarily want to become a professor or go back. I would wager most of us are somewhat overthinkers. And my brain just doesn't turn off. This was probably a good thing 500 years ago. If my problem was "I don't know when my next meal is" or "I want to have easy access to water" then it would be very reasonable for my brain brain to constantly think of solutions. But now I can overthink EVERYTHING. When I'm showering, going to bed, random ideas and solutions for work problems just pop in my head. This is just how my brain works, and if I was using these solution processes for personal matters or home projects I'd be ecstatic, but I don't get to choose, well the ones that stress me out the most probably get priority. I'm not sure I'm going anywhere with this. Just kind of ranting I guess. Assistant: lucrative my ass
Human: If 70 to 80 % of the people are not satisfied, why aren't things changing? I was talking to a bunch of friends recently (all in mid to late 20s) and none of the 15 people were able to say they were satisfied with their jobs(across various engineering majors) It got me thinking, why aren't people trying to make the world a more enjoyable place. I know change is scary and people have bills and everything. For eg, me and my friends are on Visa in the USA, so there isn't much we can change about our work life due to laws and restrictions. Just wanted to discuss what all other factors are making this world an unhappy place to work in? Assistant: This thread feels like r/LateStageCapitalism.	Human: If 70 to 80 % of the people are not satisfied, why aren't things changing? I was talking to a bunch of friends recently (all in mid to late 20s) and none of the 15 people were able to say they were satisfied with their jobs(across various engineering majors) It got me thinking, why aren't people trying to make the world a more enjoyable place. I know change is scary and people have bills and everything. For eg, me and my friends are on Visa in the USA, so there isn't much we can change about our work life due to laws and restrictions. Just wanted to discuss what all other factors are making this world an unhappy place to work in? Assistant: I jumped out of engineering because I got tired of other people making way more money off my labor. I work in sales now and basically own my own company within another company that allows me to have a generous return on my time where we both profit. I have seen plenty of Visa engineers/IT making 75% of what citizens here make and getting treated like 2nd-class citizens.
Human: Are there any interesting colloquialisms you've heard on the job? I'll start. One of our senior engineers likes to use the phrase "We swallow elephants but choke on gnats around here." Assistant: That problem is “not the closest gator to the boat”.	Human: Are there any interesting colloquialisms you've heard on the job? I'll start. One of our senior engineers likes to use the phrase "We swallow elephants but choke on gnats around here." Assistant: Switched jobs and I’ve been hearing “pencil whipping” non stop. For when people fill out quality check forms without actually doing the checks
Human: How do I get an entry level job with no experience, despite already earning my Bachelor’s? I was told today I was a perfect match for a Entry Level (tagged: “For recent college graduates”) System Engineer. I had all their requirements and nearly all their extra preferences. They just can’t hire me because I don’t have 3 years industry experience. If this was the first time this happened, I wouldn’t be upset, but nearly every company I talk to tells me the same thing, “We’d love to hire you, but you need a minimum x years of experience outside of school.” They won’t hire me for an internship due to being graduated (over qualified), they won’t hire me for a regular job due to lack of experience (under qualified). Assistant: When I graduated entry-level meant straight out of school. This shits really changed!	Human: How do I get an entry level job with no experience, despite already earning my Bachelor’s? I was told today I was a perfect match for a Entry Level (tagged: “For recent college graduates”) System Engineer. I had all their requirements and nearly all their extra preferences. They just can’t hire me because I don’t have 3 years industry experience. If this was the first time this happened, I wouldn’t be upset, but nearly every company I talk to tells me the same thing, “We’d love to hire you, but you need a minimum x years of experience outside of school.” They won’t hire me for an internship due to being graduated (over qualified), they won’t hire me for a regular job due to lack of experience (under qualified). Assistant: I know it's too late, but it's the key reason a lot of students get internships during the summer breaks. My friend and I were in the same boat, I went to graduate school and he joined a small firm that was more an engineering technician than an engineer...he was later promoted to engineer and is now a vice president. So maybe those are choices to consider, grad school or seek under your qualifications and work your way up.
Human: Does forcing people (employees, customers, etc.) to change their password every 3-6 months really help with security? Assistant: Microsoft says no. They say now to change passwords less often and introduce 2FA non-SMS based if possible.	Human: Does forcing people (employees, customers, etc.) to change their password every 3-6 months really help with security? Assistant: Forcing password changes doesn't really make passwords more secure, but in theory it changes the lock on the door making any existing security breaches have to start over. It's about minimizing exposure, not about being more secure.
Human: What is the deal with "HR is not your friend?" Hi, I am a senior student study mechanical engineer. I got a few internships before but I rarely speaking to HR(only for paperwork stuff). I saw a lot of people complain about HR is not on their side and as an engineer who is about to enter the workforce it worry me. Can someone please explain to me this kind of dynamics? Thank you. Assistant: Maybe a hot-take and a bit cynical, but most people at work are not your friend. There may be one or two people who you might consider close enough to hang out with outside of work, but if push came to shove most people at work would throw you under the bus to save their own skin. This is largely referred to as 'business'.	Human: What is the deal with "HR is not your friend?" Hi, I am a senior student study mechanical engineer. I got a few internships before but I rarely speaking to HR(only for paperwork stuff). I saw a lot of people complain about HR is not on their side and as an engineer who is about to enter the workforce it worry me. Can someone please explain to me this kind of dynamics? Thank you. Assistant: My HR rep doesnt even come into the office (pre-covid). They are hard to get a hold of. Thats basically when I realized they arent there for you
Human: Experienced tradesmen vs "booksmart" engineers I'm currently studying for a degree in engineering at university but also have a trades background. From talking to family or friends of family who are tradesmen and don't have a degree, I've noticed that there is a particular theme of story these tradesmen like to tell, and that is the story of them noticing something that the "genius educated engineer" didn't figure out. It usually starts with them saying something like: " I don't have the qualifications or the education, I'm just a simple man trying to do a job." and then the next part of the story goes: "I take a look at something and tell the computer wizard engineers with their design programs and degrees a problem I saw, and they go "oh we didn't notice that". You can see that they're trying to be humble when telling the story but it's obvious they are smug and feel validated. I'm well aware that experienced tradesmen do bring knowledge they've accumulated over time that sometimes degree-educated engineers miss, I just get bored of hearing this story/tale of how the "non educated working man" figured something out that the "wizard genius engineers" missed. Has anyone else noticed this particular theme of tale in their careers from the trades? Assistant: It's easy to take a huge design made by an engineer and find one mistake. But no one notices all the things that are correct.	Human: Experienced tradesmen vs "booksmart" engineers I'm currently studying for a degree in engineering at university but also have a trades background. From talking to family or friends of family who are tradesmen and don't have a degree, I've noticed that there is a particular theme of story these tradesmen like to tell, and that is the story of them noticing something that the "genius educated engineer" didn't figure out. It usually starts with them saying something like: " I don't have the qualifications or the education, I'm just a simple man trying to do a job." and then the next part of the story goes: "I take a look at something and tell the computer wizard engineers with their design programs and degrees a problem I saw, and they go "oh we didn't notice that". You can see that they're trying to be humble when telling the story but it's obvious they are smug and feel validated. I'm well aware that experienced tradesmen do bring knowledge they've accumulated over time that sometimes degree-educated engineers miss, I just get bored of hearing this story/tale of how the "non educated working man" figured something out that the "wizard genius engineers" missed. Has anyone else noticed this particular theme of tale in their careers from the trades? Assistant: Sure, but these stories are told between engineers sick of know-it-alls too. What bothers me is that there is a huge difference between just missing something and insistingly denying the difference between school and the real world, but these stories always let it sound like the latter one.
Human: How do I maintain productivity 8 hours a day?? As the question says, how do I remain productive 8 hours a day. I'm a fairly new grad, been working 2 years and I have a new job which I love. The thing is, all my coworkers seem to be productive 8 hours a day and I can only go like 2-3 hours of consistent work until I lose focus. I don't know if I have ADD, but I have plenty of work to do and I feel like it's impossible to focus for the entire day. I usually get sidetracked or want to check the news, etc. Anyone have tips on how to be consistently productive without burning myself out? Assistant: Every week I give it my full 100%! Mondays: 24% Tuesday: 18% Wednesdays: 33% Thursdays: 22% Fridays: 3%	Human: How do I maintain productivity 8 hours a day?? As the question says, how do I remain productive 8 hours a day. I'm a fairly new grad, been working 2 years and I have a new job which I love. The thing is, all my coworkers seem to be productive 8 hours a day and I can only go like 2-3 hours of consistent work until I lose focus. I don't know if I have ADD, but I have plenty of work to do and I feel like it's impossible to focus for the entire day. I usually get sidetracked or want to check the news, etc. Anyone have tips on how to be consistently productive without burning myself out? Assistant: I've secretly been automating alot of my work that would normally take my coworkers more time to finish. I have alot of free time due to this. Don't try to improve your efficiency in front of your managers. I technically only work 4 hrs a day and then day trade/help coworkers.
Human: Anyone have a cool job they want to brag about? I'm sure this has been asked before, but does anyone do something super cool that they want to tell the world about? It's doesn't have to be some fancy nuclear block chain spaceship, but even just people who have a ton of creative freedom in their position. I'm just curious what a day in the life of another happy engineer is like Assistant: Not an engineer (journeyman machinist) but I used to work at a shop with the largest machines in the state of Utah and I’d get to run a 20ft diameter lathe and a horizontal machining center where we would make parts weighing upwards of 100 tons. We had our own crane in the parking lot and a heat treat oven that was its own building with a removable roof. Got to do some wild shit there. Here is a couple pictures of the 2 big VTLs.	Human: Anyone have a cool job they want to brag about? I'm sure this has been asked before, but does anyone do something super cool that they want to tell the world about? It's doesn't have to be some fancy nuclear block chain spaceship, but even just people who have a ton of creative freedom in their position. I'm just curious what a day in the life of another happy engineer is like Assistant: I get to use all my engineering knowhow to have meeting, make excel spreadsheets, and powerpoints!
Human: Female engineers, do you feel like you’re treated differently? I’m about to start an aircraft maintenance apprenticeship and I’m a little worried I might get treated differently because I’m a girl. I’ve already had men who were rejected tell me I only got the job because the company wants to be diverse. Do any female engineers here find they are treated differently to men? Assistant: My fiancé is an aerospace engineer. She was on a proposal team recently but was repeatedly ignored by her colleagues when discussing ideas. "Wow," she said once the meeting was over. "This is why there are no women in STEM." After submitting her own idea anyway, it was chosen as the leading project and she was assigned PI. Righteous justice — except no one on the team would follow her instructions, they referred to the PM who was male. It sucks out there.	Human: Female engineers, do you feel like you’re treated differently? I’m about to start an aircraft maintenance apprenticeship and I’m a little worried I might get treated differently because I’m a girl. I’ve already had men who were rejected tell me I only got the job because the company wants to be diverse. Do any female engineers here find they are treated differently to men? Assistant: Anyone who says the only reason you got the job is because of your gender probably got rejected because they're entitled assholes. I have definitely rejected strong-resuméd applicants in the past due solely to their attitudes. I don't want a self- centered arrogant know-it-all "fixing" my airplanes incorrectly thanks.
Human: What engineering fields are booming right now and will see significant growth in the next 10-30 years in terms of job prospects? Assistant: Personally I think batteries and power electronics are going to be huge. EVs continue to be on the rise and a lot of countries seem to be intent on switching over to EVs While battery manufacturing will likely be in China, a lot of testing, simulation and design will likely be done globally. Then for the batteries you need the circuitry to manage packs.	Human: What engineering fields are booming right now and will see significant growth in the next 10-30 years in terms of job prospects? Assistant: Hyperscale Data Centers
Human: What is the "Bible" for your discipline? I've already collected "the art of electronics" and "shigleys mechanical engineering design". Just wondering what else might be worth picking up for engineering reference purposes. Assistant: Can we get this thread in the sidebar? There's a lot of really good information here.	Human: What is the "Bible" for your discipline? I've already collected "the art of electronics" and "shigleys mechanical engineering design". Just wondering what else might be worth picking up for engineering reference purposes. Assistant: Stack Overflow
Human: Why do managers get paid disproportionately more? Hi everyone, i've been in the automotive field for 4 years now. I assume many of you here are managers in your respective companies, but no offense intended. My experience with way too many managers has been that they suck at what they do, mostly running their mouth and filling up wish lists in the form of excel sheets. Many get promoted to their position based on politics inside the company and those who actually know what the hell they are doing and are contributing constructively to developing a system with their knowledge and experience are rare. But from what I see, even they are not contributing 10 fold the value contributed by a development engineer. So the question is, why the hell are managers getting paid disproportionately more in comparison to the development engineers, if they are not doing something disproportionately more valuable for the project, the company and the people working there? Seems that being good at politics is rewarded more than being good at engineering or managing engineering work for that matter. I often want to ask you guys, are you even doing anything. I'm seeing nothing good coming from you even though you took the nice fat bonus. And the worst thing is, as long as you skillfully manage to shift responsibility to other departments, people etc., there is no problem, you do well, the managing directors seem to be liking you, you're their kind of people. Assistant: It's more difficult to find good managers than it is to find good development engineers.	Human: Why do managers get paid disproportionately more? Hi everyone, i've been in the automotive field for 4 years now. I assume many of you here are managers in your respective companies, but no offense intended. My experience with way too many managers has been that they suck at what they do, mostly running their mouth and filling up wish lists in the form of excel sheets. Many get promoted to their position based on politics inside the company and those who actually know what the hell they are doing and are contributing constructively to developing a system with their knowledge and experience are rare. But from what I see, even they are not contributing 10 fold the value contributed by a development engineer. So the question is, why the hell are managers getting paid disproportionately more in comparison to the development engineers, if they are not doing something disproportionately more valuable for the project, the company and the people working there? Seems that being good at politics is rewarded more than being good at engineering or managing engineering work for that matter. I often want to ask you guys, are you even doing anything. I'm seeing nothing good coming from you even though you took the nice fat bonus. And the worst thing is, as long as you skillfully manage to shift responsibility to other departments, people etc., there is no problem, you do well, the managing directors seem to be liking you, you're their kind of people. Assistant: In my experience managers actually aren’t paid more proportional to the amount of extra work and responsibility. I have no interest in being the one who has to give reviews, fire people, be the one responsible for all kinds of shit for a 15% pay bump. I don’t know about your company specifics but in my experience the software engineering managers I work with don’t make that much more than developers, some probably make less than more senior developers.
Human: Whats one disadvantage of being an engineer? What do you not like about engineering? Assistant: None of your non-engineering friends and no one in your family understands what you do all day. When you try to explain, you can watch as they desperately try to leave the conversation or try to change the topic.	Human: Whats one disadvantage of being an engineer? What do you not like about engineering? Assistant: You don’t make nearly as much as they lead you to believe in school. You’re making the wages that made us the upper middle class wages in the 80s or 90s but that hasn’t kept up with inflation over the past few decades.
Human: What engineering terms have crept into your everyday vocabulary? Assistant: Fluid to refer to something gaseous always confuses people. Edit: spelling	Human: What engineering terms have crept into your everyday vocabulary? Assistant: lead time
Human: Why are other companies designing new ventilators rather than just getting license to manufacture per existing designs? It takes a while to validate a new design, especially by engineers who have no experience in this area. If rushed, the ventilator could kill someone. Instead, why don't companies sign a licensing agreement to manufacture existing designs? Seems like the problem is making ventilators fast enough and they just need more ventilator assembly lines. For example https://www.space.com/virgin-orbit-designs-ventilator-to-fight-coronavirus.html Assistant: there was nothing wrong with 60's/70's designs that did not use processors, software (from an earlier post, the majority of failures of modern machines were related to software) or things like custom membrane switches and displays.	Human: Why are other companies designing new ventilators rather than just getting license to manufacture per existing designs? It takes a while to validate a new design, especially by engineers who have no experience in this area. If rushed, the ventilator could kill someone. Instead, why don't companies sign a licensing agreement to manufacture existing designs? Seems like the problem is making ventilators fast enough and they just need more ventilator assembly lines. For example https://www.space.com/virgin-orbit-designs-ventilator-to-fight-coronavirus.html Assistant: Because even in this time of imminent fucking death, it's all about money.
Human: Manufacturing Engineers, how do you stay sane? I’m 5 years into being a manufacturing engineer at a small privately held company. It seems like everyday there is something catastrophic that I have to deal with, it’s exhausting. Assistant: I can't believe I'm the only one saying this, but manufacturing environment is 100% dependant on company. My last company things were crazy and hectic all the time, my new job is so relaxed it's ideal. Shitty companies are shitty in every department, not just manufacturing. When you interview for a manufacturing Engineer job, you gotta listen real careful for how crazy it is cuz they won't always tell you lol	Human: Manufacturing Engineers, how do you stay sane? I’m 5 years into being a manufacturing engineer at a small privately held company. It seems like everyday there is something catastrophic that I have to deal with, it’s exhausting. Assistant: By leaving manufacturing of course! Invaluable experience though.
Human: My supervisor left the company, which by default made me the new department head. This came with an increased work load on top of leading a project that will heavily shape the future of the company. There hasn't been a single mention of a raise. Should I ask for the raise? What if they say no? Am I in the right for wanting to request a raise? I made a post here about 8 months ago asking whether I should take this extremely low paying job. Well I did, and here I am 8 months later (it hurts to say it but I'm being very picky with my jobs apps so I'm still here). Anyway, here I am, inheriting this position that made me the new supervisor (though I am only supervising one other person-- the company is very very small). Like I said, I am leading a huge project that the company is absolutely relying on (without it we may be obsolete in a few years) and I am also answering all the tech/engineering questions and responding to other requests. I've been meaning to ask for the raise but the opportunity hasn't come up (mainly been waiting for my overdue performance review). Honestly, am I being too entitled to think I deserve it? I know I only inherited the position by default but it seems reasonable to request it, especially with the increased work load. It also feels so demotivating to give more to this company and to not get anything in return. All my friends and family think it's ridiculous and super crappy of them to not have automatically given me the raise. The other thing is, if they say no, I feel like I will feel so resentful towards the company. What do you all think? Assistant: "by default made me the new department head" What kind of contract did you sign there? Whenever someone quits you automatically have to do their job as well for the same salary? It's not just about the increased workload, supervising somebody else (even if it's just a single person) means much more responsibility. You should immediately ask for a (significant!) raise, or reject the new position or just quit (looking for a new job right away also seems like a good idea)	Human: My supervisor left the company, which by default made me the new department head. This came with an increased work load on top of leading a project that will heavily shape the future of the company. There hasn't been a single mention of a raise. Should I ask for the raise? What if they say no? Am I in the right for wanting to request a raise? I made a post here about 8 months ago asking whether I should take this extremely low paying job. Well I did, and here I am 8 months later (it hurts to say it but I'm being very picky with my jobs apps so I'm still here). Anyway, here I am, inheriting this position that made me the new supervisor (though I am only supervising one other person-- the company is very very small). Like I said, I am leading a huge project that the company is absolutely relying on (without it we may be obsolete in a few years) and I am also answering all the tech/engineering questions and responding to other requests. I've been meaning to ask for the raise but the opportunity hasn't come up (mainly been waiting for my overdue performance review). Honestly, am I being too entitled to think I deserve it? I know I only inherited the position by default but it seems reasonable to request it, especially with the increased work load. It also feels so demotivating to give more to this company and to not get anything in return. All my friends and family think it's ridiculous and super crappy of them to not have automatically given me the raise. The other thing is, if they say no, I feel like I will feel so resentful towards the company. What do you all think? Assistant: Why did your boss leave? Sounds like you should be leaving too. Don't accept extra responsibility without extra pay.
Human: 4 months into my Defense job and still no work Hi everyone, I am looking for some advice about navigating a disquieting situation I have found myself in to begin my career: I have been getting paid to do absolutely nothing at home for four months. I graduated in May with a BSEE, and I got a job at a major US defense company working in RF starting in late June. However, because of COVID, most people have been working from home since then, and many new college hires have not been given any work to do. When I started, I was instructed to charge my time to overhead and wait for a task. I got maybe one or two small tasks, did a little bit of helping out and shadowing other engineers in a lab, but mostly… nothing. I’m four months into my job, and I have been sitting at home collecting paychecks the vast majority of the time. I’m not the only one, either — I know of others in my exact situation, some of whom have had even less work than I’ve had. It looks like I might get an interesting task soon, but there is still no indication of a long-term project coming my way. After over four months, I’m getting a little worried. I am really interested in RF, and I was hoping to learn a lot here before eventually pursuing graduate school, but as of now I have no idea how I am going to build my resume. Can anyone offer advice for what I should do? My supervisor seems incapable of finding me a task (he has been “working on it” since I first started), but I really want to contribute given the decent amount of RF experience I have from college and previous internships. This huge company seems plagued by internal politics — individual programs do not want to pay for a newly hired engineer, so the company prefers to have me uselessly charging overhead rather than billing a specific program’s budget and contributing to it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am unfortunately stuck with this company until next June because of a relocation contract, so I really need to find a way to succeed here in the short term. Assistant: When I was light on work in MechE I taught myself python. Best decision I ever made. Now I'm swamped but I can write scripts to automate tasks.	Human: 4 months into my Defense job and still no work Hi everyone, I am looking for some advice about navigating a disquieting situation I have found myself in to begin my career: I have been getting paid to do absolutely nothing at home for four months. I graduated in May with a BSEE, and I got a job at a major US defense company working in RF starting in late June. However, because of COVID, most people have been working from home since then, and many new college hires have not been given any work to do. When I started, I was instructed to charge my time to overhead and wait for a task. I got maybe one or two small tasks, did a little bit of helping out and shadowing other engineers in a lab, but mostly… nothing. I’m four months into my job, and I have been sitting at home collecting paychecks the vast majority of the time. I’m not the only one, either — I know of others in my exact situation, some of whom have had even less work than I’ve had. It looks like I might get an interesting task soon, but there is still no indication of a long-term project coming my way. After over four months, I’m getting a little worried. I am really interested in RF, and I was hoping to learn a lot here before eventually pursuing graduate school, but as of now I have no idea how I am going to build my resume. Can anyone offer advice for what I should do? My supervisor seems incapable of finding me a task (he has been “working on it” since I first started), but I really want to contribute given the decent amount of RF experience I have from college and previous internships. This huge company seems plagued by internal politics — individual programs do not want to pay for a newly hired engineer, so the company prefers to have me uselessly charging overhead rather than billing a specific program’s budget and contributing to it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am unfortunately stuck with this company until next June because of a relocation contract, so I really need to find a way to succeed here in the short term. Assistant: This is raytheon for sure lol
Human: As an engineer, how do you know that your math is 100% correct? I have noticed in my studies that there is a lot of room for error in computationally burdensome math, especially in just applying basic algebra. One small slip-up, rounding error, etc. can give you a flawed calculation. The things engineers do have profound, direct impacts to clients and civilians, so there isn't room for anything more than allowed error. I understand that many calculations today are performed by computer programs, but when you do calculations by hand, how do you ensure that your math is correct? Assistant: This is why gray beards like me get paid more than fresh outs. It's not that I'm faster at the calculations or better at the tools (I'm not unless I know of a shortcut), but that I've done similar calculation enough times to have a decent sense of what the answer should be so if something is not in the right ballpark, we dig deeper and make sure it's correct. At least, this is the story I tell my ego (or it tells me, hard to say).	Human: As an engineer, how do you know that your math is 100% correct? I have noticed in my studies that there is a lot of room for error in computationally burdensome math, especially in just applying basic algebra. One small slip-up, rounding error, etc. can give you a flawed calculation. The things engineers do have profound, direct impacts to clients and civilians, so there isn't room for anything more than allowed error. I understand that many calculations today are performed by computer programs, but when you do calculations by hand, how do you ensure that your math is correct? Assistant: Calculations by hand - what are those? Most/many engineers either don't do much of any math or use validated spreadsheets / programs.