Ahh Economics.
First off, I was in your same shoes once. I went to a University and didn't learn much at all.
Second, it wasn't until I learned Austrian Economics that now I understand why.
You are probably learning either Keynsian Economics (heavy socialist based) or Chicago (a combination of both Keynes and Austrian). In the major universities today, professors are paid by the state and have probably progressed from bachelors, to graduate studies, to a faculty position at a University, bypassing any sort of real world experience an average person (forced to deal with his/her own business and the real world, a.k.a. 'how it REALLY works'). This leads to an armchair philosophy whereupon faculty teachers of the socialist sort tend to think that their ideas are 'revolutionary' and people should simply 'prescribe to them' because of the status of 'professor' whence these ideas came.
The type of education system that is currently employed in the United States is that of Prussia during the 1700's (please refer to
John Taylor Gatto). During this time, Prussia (Northern Germany) didn't have many natural resources to exploit and trade to the rest of the world and had to find another means of economic attainment; this setback lead to the idea of training people from a very young age (say 4-5 years old) to follow directions and simply do what is told. A schooling system was then designed around this model to promote manufacturing and industry, and since a person who thought for his/her self would not be beneficial in this type of system, a method was devised to reduce this ‘independent’ tendency.
Because the United States adopted this type of system in the early 20th century, we can understand why today’s children have such a difficult time with education past High School. The public school system was designed to provide us with and answer instead of guiding us into figuring out an answer that is most suitable for ourselves.
Therefore, I would suggest that if you are truly interested in Economics, check into what is sometimes referred to as the Philosophy of Nature, or the Study of Human Nature or rather the Austrian Economic perspective. Most of the comprehensive, authoritative works can be found on
Mises.org for free. In fact, from the extensive amount of materials available on the
Mises.org website, you can give yourself a masters education in economics for free.
I would also suggest taking a deep look inside. Sometimes what we think (or others think) we need may actually not be the case. Maybe the type or study you are performing doesn’t interest you, or perhaps you may be interested in studying something altogether different, but the important part is finding something you enjoy no matter what it. If you find something you enjoy you will find it is much more easy to focus and remember the material because it is something you are interested in.
And if you find that you really aren’t interested in Keynesian economics (or Chicagoan for that matter) but you think you absolutely must finish your degree (and still cannot focus) I recommend using a technology such as
Hemi-Sync or Pavlina recommended
Paraliminal cd’s. This might make a huge difference.
Best of luck to you.
The following are links used in this post:
John Taylor Gatto Mises.org Hemi-Sync Paraliminal