I was recently asked to run a session on the basic principles of economics for a group of university students. This got me thinking: why would such a group of diverse individuals – most of whom were not studying economics – be interested in economics? Their focus areas likely ranged from choosing between academic courses, dividing time between work and friends or taking their first step on their own career ladders. How could economics help them? For someone like me who spends much of his day obsessing over how policy or growth or inflation data impacts investments in stocks, bonds…