Let me be honest: I didn’t love my recent Macroeconomics and Microeconomics course. It was full of charts, theories, and models, important, yes, but it often felt like a detailed blueprint of a system I’m trying to change.
As a sustainability student and advocate, I’m not here to memorize how the economy currently works. I’m here to reshape it so it works better for people and the planet.
📊 What We Studied
The course was comprehensive. We covered:
Macroeconomics: national income, trade, government policies, and crises.
Microeconomics: markets, wages, competition.
Behavioral economics: irrational decisions, biases, and nudges.
And finally, real-world applications: how economics plays out in HR, marketing, and even fashion.
It was intellectually valuable. I now understand things like GDP, inflation, and supply-demand dynamics. But understanding how things work is only part of the picture. The real challenge is deciding what we do with that knowledge.
💥 My Frustration: Economics Describes, Sustainability Transforms
Economics often takes a neutral stance: “This is how the market works.” It can feel passive, clinical, even detached. But sustainability is the opposite. It’s active, urgent, and transformative. It asks:
“Is this working for future generations? And if not, how can we change it?”
Markets may be efficient, but they often ignore externalities, those hidden costs like carbon emissions, soil degradation, water pollution, or human exploitation.
We calculate profit margins, but not planetary boundaries. We track employment rates, but not well-being or equity. This is where traditional economics and sustainability clash, and also where they need to collaborate.
🧠 One Lesson That Did Stick: Behavioral Economics
One part of the topic I truly connected with is in behavioral economics. It studies how people make decisions, not just as “rational agents,” but as humans with emotions, biases, and contradictions.
Why do people buy fast fashion even when they know it’s harmful?
Why do companies avoid paying fair wages even when it leads to turnover?
Why do we delay climate action even when we know the cost of inaction?
Understanding human behavior is key to designing better systems, nudging people toward more conscious choices, shifting incentives, and rethinking what we value. Behavioral economics might be one of the most powerful tools in the sustainability toolbox. But this was not part of the lesson...
🌎 Why This Matters for the Future
I’m not dismissing economics; on the contrary, I believe we need a new kind of economics. One that:
Internalizes social and environmental costs.
Values well-being alongside GDP.
Supports circular economies, not endless growth.
Recognizes inequality, not just efficiency.
Measures success in more than just profit.
That’s the kind of economics I want to study. And more importantly, the kind I want to help shape.
📣 To my fellow change-makers: Learn the system, yes. But never stop questioning it. Because the goal isn’t to replicate the economy we’ve inherited, it’s to design one that works for all.
✨ Stay critical. Stay curious. Stay committed.
– Morena
