Economics

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Overview While economics is about the economy, economics is a way of thinking about the world using both theory and evidence to study a broad array of topics. The Department of Economics provides students with the analytical tools necessary to study and understand real world events at the micro level (e.g., consumers and markets) and macro level (e.g., national and global). Our students use economic analysis to study topics from education to marriage and the family, from international trade and finance to politics and economic development, from the environment to income distribution and more.  Majors in the Department of Economics leave the program equipped to analyze problems and issues in both the private and public sectors of the economy. They are employed in a wide variety of endeavors: industry, consulting, management, finance, government, banking, think tanks, entrepreneurial endeavors, as well as entering graduate school in fields as diverse as business, law, public policy, medicine, and advanced work in economics.

Faculty The University has a distinguished Department of Economics. Its faculty members have international reputations in their areas of specialization and are committed to teaching undergraduates, training graduate students, and conducting economic research. Departmental specialties include industrial organization, international trade and finance, labor economics, economic development and environmental economics, the economics of education, and the economics of the public sector.

Students Economics is one of the most popular subjects at the University. The number of students who enroll in economics courses greatly exceeds the number of majors, a testimony to the value of learning economics even for non-majors. The introductory courses are taught in a variety of formats, from large sections of as many as 500 students (which are supplemented by small discussion sections led by teaching assistants) to small sections of about 30. Higher-level courses range from 15 to 300 students, with most courses containing 40 to 80.