They ignore the need for growth in Europe.”  Austerity versus growth. This debate is wrong. Policy-makers are often accused of being obsessed with fiscal austerity and ignoring the need for growth in Europe. Let me be clear: fiscal consolidation is not an end in itself. Rather, it is a pre-condition for achieving sustainable growth.
I became intrigued by books on finance, and, hence, at NYU I majored first in finance and, as my interest broadened, in economics and in what was then called mathematical statistics and now econometrics. In retrospect, that choice probably was not surprising since math was my most engaging course in high school. I graduated and joined an economic research organization.