Is Your Work in Economics Meaningful?

For many people, work has to feel meaningful and impactful. How does economics show you how it can make a difference? I was working with Rob Townsend on a project to try to understand growth and inequality in rural Thailand. We would ask them crazy economics questions like, tell me about your wealth. And that process of going from an abstract model to people's lived experiences was one of the things that I found really interesting and exciting.