Explain how an economist is like an engineer. Give an example.

What will be an ideal response?

Should show a thorough understanding of basic role of an economist. Like an engineer, economists try to figure out how things work and then describe what would happen if you changed something. For example, an economist might do a study that compares the buying habits of consumers in urban and rural areas. The study shows that urban and rural consumers have different favorite brands of coffee. Then the economist would ask: “If price of the favorite coffee in rural areas increased significantly, how would rural consumers respond?” The economist hypothesizes that in such a situation, most rural consumers would switch to the favorite urban coffee, instead of switching to another beverage, such as tea.