Intro to Project

How can we make the world a better place? Eventually, the root problem usually boils down to some type of long-term universal change — for example, educational reforms, or a way to maximize political efficacy and participation.

However, each of these utopic solutions also entail their own sets of restraints: insurmountable power structures, limited resources, and more. My interests in one day working within the legal system led me wanting to know more about what smaller-scale changes we can make. In an age where consumerism has developed to the point that the furthest we need to go to get our groceries is our front door, what better area to study than economics?

An 8th grade Intro to Economics course and a 9th grade AP Government course have shed light on some of the concrete theory on how our financial decisions relate to the US’s politics on a grander scheme. Since then, I have subscribed to economics updates from the Wall Street Journal sent every other day. These updates include information on economic developments in all aspects of our lives, including the businesses whose services we rely on, more large-scale trends in the country or in the world, and even the ups and downs within the entertainment industry. These briefs have taught me so much in terms of the breadth of economics, and just how intertwined they are in our daily lives. 

 However, I believe that personal experiences and observations of economics and politics are equally as impactful as rigid rules and theories. Upon thinking of ways to actually act on these experiences in an informed way, I hope to be able to form a comprehensive idea on the differences in economic policy between the US and China, and ways they could improve upon each others’ ideas.

Financial Foundations is split into two portions both in the US and in China: research and practice. For each country, I will first thoroughly research the economic and political backgrounds of their modern-day tax legislation. Then, I will conduct interviews to enlighten how federal legislation can impact corporations of different sectors and sizes. Furthermore, an internship under a senior CPA in Shanghai, the economic heart of China, will shed light on relevant, immediate trends for businesses that I would not have been able to gain exposure to in the US.