Optimization plays a very important role in the area of data science. For example, in finance, investors are constantly seeking a trade-off between risk and return. To diversify their investment, they would like to invest in different industries or buy several stocks. Thus, for an expected portfolio return, how do they choose appropriate stocks to minimize their portfolio risk? For this objective, we could apply some kind of portfolio optimization technique.
Another application is linked to the government's tax policy. We know that cutting the corporate tax rate would encourage companies that are considering more capital investment (that is, long-term investment), such as in equipment. However, at the same time, the government's revenue might fall. If this is true, the government would have to cut many programs intended to help unfortunate people...