On Fri, 4 Mar 2011 15:01:54 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:
snip

He's headed for a PhD in economics, with a master's in math along the way.
His responsibilities at work are evolving. But his interest now is in
learning basic programming, with an eye to learning something useful for his
work. He doesn't really know what he's going to do with it. He does NOT want
to be a professional programmer, although knowing the basics probably will
help him.

snip
If at all possible, it is suggested that he take at least
one and possibly several courses in econometrics/political
econometrics as these techniques scrub out most of the
theorizing and replace it with data driven and empirically
verified conclusions.


-- Unka George (George McDuffee)
...............................
The past is a foreign country;
they do things differently there.
L. P. Hartley (1895-1972), British author.
The Go-Between, Prologue (1953).