Rebecca Bell
Rebecca Bell is an economist at KPMG UK, specialising in competition and regulatory finance.
Why did you choose to study economics?
I chose to study Economics on a bit of a whim. When choosing my university degree I was stuck between going down a science or arts degree, as I always enjoyed both throughout school. I heard about PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) through a summer school and decided to go for it as I liked the idea of a joint subject degree. My school didn’t offer Economics, so I had never studied it before, but in my degree I realised how much I loved it (and that I was good at it!), so I specialised my degree into Economics.
How would you describe economics?
Economics is about understanding the way that the world works using logic and mathematics. Building mathematical models to illustrate the trade offs that consumers, businesses and even countries make given their circumstances.
If you had a time machine and could meet your 16-year-old self, what advice would you give them?
Have fun and keep learning.
What is your favourite part of economics?
I like that economists come in all forms and can work together to solve problems. In my work, we have macroeconomists, econometricians, microeconomists and financial economists that work together to help clients with all sorts of problems.
Is there anything you would do differently if you had the chance?
This is quite difficult to answer, as I believe that everything happens for a reason, and the chain of events in my life led to where I am today. Even mistakes made turned out ok in the end, and you always learn something from your mistakes.