College degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) are seen as lucrative, reliable path to a career. But an uptick in STEM majors since the financial crisis means English majors are down 25.5%, which appears to be worrying some economic leaders.

That’s because a number of prominent economists are concerned they aren’t doing a good enough job telling economic stories. The governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Philip Lowe, recently urged economists to spend less time on numbers and more time on storytelling. The Federal Reserve Board here, meanwhile, is currently searching for a senior speech writer.

Heather Long, economics corespondent at The Washington Post, spoke to “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal about her reporting on this idea.