Calc II Necessary for econ/finance?

Is Calc II nessary for econometrics/game theory? Do Grad programs in economics/finance require Calc II? I know that Calc III - Multi is useful for economics, but do you need to know Calc II in order to take/understand Calc III/Multivariable? Sorry if this sounds dumb, Business calc classes do strange things in plucking certain things from calc i, calc ii and calc iii and often times leave you ill prepared for economics courses which is why I'm taking regular calc - but Calc II will likely be impossible for me to do well in as I am not great at math.

 

You'd be fine with even pre-calc if you're good at visualizing numbers, have a good sense of how mathematics works, and can do calculations in your head. I did up to calc-2 and it's way, way overkill for everything I've seen in business thus-far.

In terms of economics, if you're going to do grad school I say that calc-3 is the threshold you want to reach to qualify for more difficult programs and to be a fairly competent economist.

in it 2 win it
 

Calc II was the most worthless math class I took in undergrad. Calc I is essential, Calc III is extremely important (multivariate opimization, indifference curves and all that jazz). Linear algebra is vital for econometrics. I have yet to encounter an important econ or finance topic that uses a lot of Calc II (I am assuming Calc I covered integration extensively as that is obv important for probability).

Estimating bond price changes using duration and convexity technically uses a Taylor approximation, but you don't really need to know that.

All that said I would recommend taking it if it's a prerequisite to Calc III. It's not that hard.

 
Best Response

Different schools split Calc 1/2/3 up differently, so be careful. At my school Calc 2 is multivarable, but I think it's generally accepted that Calc 1 = single-var differentiation, Calc 2 = single-var integration, Calc 3 = multivariable.

This also depends on your econ program, of course. For Econometrics, etc. it's really nice to know multivariable (and linear algebra). For some advanced economics you need diffEQ as well. For grad-level economics you absolutely CAN'T get by on just single-variable calculus unless you want to kill yourself with self-studying to catch up. I think most (good) econ PhD programs require multivariable calculus + linear algebra + probability/statistics at LEAST.

Currently: future neurologist, current psychotherapist Previously: investor relations (top consulting firm), M&A consulting (Big 4), M&A banking (MM)
 
chicandtoughness:
Different schools split Calc 1/2/3 up differently, so be careful. At my school Calc 2 is multivarable, but I think it's generally accepted that Calc 1 = single-var differentiation, Calc 2 = single-var integration, Calc 3 = multivariable.

This also depends on your econ program, of course. For Econometrics, etc. it's really nice to know multivariable (and linear algebra). For some advanced economics you need diffEQ as well. For grad-level economics you absolutely CAN'T get by on just single-variable calculus unless you want to kill yourself with self-studying to catch up. I think most (good) econ PhD programs require multivariable calculus + linear algebra + probability/statistics at LEAST.

Is it possible to learn Calc III/Linear Algebra without Calc II? All of the upper level math classes are easy (to get a B in) at my university because the profs make the exams so hard that anyone who doesn't fail pretty much gets a B- at least. I've always been an A-/B+ math student and Calc II has like a 50% fail rate which is actually fairly common I've heard at state U's throughout the country.

 
blastoise:
are you fkin kidding me for phd lvl econ you need to know about stohcatic diffrential equations

I may go for an MS in economics possibly to transition into public policy if I don't go into finance out of undergrad. I was asking whether I would be able to succeed in MS level econometrics with just calc 1, and if I needed multi whether I would be able to skip Calc II and take Calc III right away.

 
Husky32:
I was asking whether I would be able to succeed in MS level econometrics with just calc 1, and if I needed multi whether I would be able to skip Calc II and take Calc III right away.
There's a reason why 3 comes after 2 and not 1. If you want to skip Calc 2 then you're going to still need to put in the time to learn Calc 2 material. Maybe not super in-depthly but you need the foundation. MS-level econometrics with Calc 1? Kiss those good grades goodbye. Have you ever seen an econometrics textbook? Get a copy of Hayashi's Econometrics and skim the first couple of chapters- you'll know immediately what you need to learn. (Alternatively, read the "prerequisites" section in the Amazon preview: http://www.amazon.com/Econometrics-ebook/dp/B007AIXESK/ref=tmm_kin_titl…)
Currently: future neurologist, current psychotherapist Previously: investor relations (top consulting firm), M&A consulting (Big 4), M&A banking (MM)
 

I wouldn't recommend Multi without Calc II (assuming Calc II at your school pretty much covers single-variable integration). Multivariable calculus involves a ton of integration, so you need to be comfortable with that stuff.

As for whether it is necessary, it depends. If you want to really get into econometrics, it is useful for probability and statistics. But for most econ courses only Calc I and Calc III are useful.

As others have said already, for PhD level econ you need all the calculus you can take and linear algebra. And then throw in some pure math courses to be competitive (real analysis, measure theory, etc)

 

For Econometrics and Game Theory at the undergrad level, you'll likely only need Calc I. Calc III would be helpful for partial derivatives, but Calc I should suffice. If you learned integral calculus, you can probably skip II and take III. That's what I did, and I only missed taylor series, which I've never needed.

 

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