Story 6

Josiah Daniels

April 7, 2011

Interview Joe Schoen

Joe Schoen’s Journey in Economics

            Professor Joseph Schoen and economics seemed to click when he took his first economics class.

            “I thought I could make money at it, basically the stock market,” Schoen said as to why he took that first economics course. 

At first Schoen wanted to be a cross-country truck driver, but after he took that first class, things gelled. “For me it was really cool because it is how I actually analyze things in the natural world,” Schoen explained. In undergraduate school, my economic courses were the easiest classes that I took, Schoen pointed out.

Schoen actually started dabbling in the stock market in high school, so he thought economics would be the perfect course to help him out. However, he soon learned that economics wasn’t specifically for the stock market. It was the logical thinking and application of economics to the real world that got Schoen hooked on economics.

Schoen has been teaching economics courses for 3.5 years. Schoen taught for 1.5 years at The University of Wisconsin-Marshfield (UWM). The last two years, however, have been at Anoka-Ramsey Community College (ARCC).

In fact, Schoen said that there is a “night and day” difference between the students at UWM and ARCC. Schoen said that the students at ARCC are smarter than the students at his previous school.

One of Schoen’s favorite things about teaching economics is watching people find out that economics isn’t really that complicated if it is “broken down enough.” Schoen also likes to show how some people have preconceived notions about economics but that many of those notions aren’t consistent with the logic of economics.

On the other hand, Schoen explained that one of the hardest things about teaching economics is that some people think the topic is dry. “It’s hard to engage those students and make it interesting,” stated Schoen. “And then there’s always some of those students who just fold their arms and say ‘your not right’ because of their preconceived notions and political views,” Schoen pointed out. For instance, Schoen explained how he goes off on tangents sometimes trying to explain to students that cutting taxes and government spending can both stimulate the economy.

Furthermore, Schoen is optimistic about the current U.S. economy. However, he believes that our economy will not grow as fast as other countries’ economies because we are the leader, but that we will recover. Schoen’s rationale for this is that we do most of the work of coming up with new technology, but all that other countries have to do is simply adapt to the technology. “It’s not going to be anything significant this year or next year even, but over all in like a decade from now, we’ll be able to say ‘oh yeah’ we recovered,” Schoen explained.

Schoen got his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. He then transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for his graduate degree. Schoen’s degree is in agricultural and applied economics.

Schoen has been contemplating going for his Ph.D. but is still unsure. Schoen pointed out how he didn’t have many memories from graduate school because of how much school he was doing. “I was thinking economics 24-7; I dreamt it,” Schoen explained. “So, I’ve kind of forgotten how much of a commitment it is.” However, Schoen says he would like to go for his Ph.D., and that he is not ruling it out as a possibility in the future.   

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