Learning Goals in the Economics Major

Economics, a social science, is concerned with the decisions a society makes to meet its material needs. Economics analyzes the production, distribution and use of goods and services in any particular society, both at the local and at the global level.

Among the challenging questions you will investigate as an economics major are the following:

• What are the causes of economic crises, and why do economists differ about these causes?
• Are markets the solution for all economic problems?
• Is there a role for government in the economy?
• What are the factors that enable some countries to develop, while others lag behind?
• What consequences follow from the fact that all countries are now part of an international, globalized economy?
• What are the causes of, and solutions for, poverty?
• What role does economics play with respect to such issues as race and gender?
• What is an equitable distribution of income? Should economists ask this question?

As an economics major, you will learn to think analytically, to pose and solve economic problems, to find and create relevant economic data sets, and to use economic models to both construct and test economic hypotheses.

You will study microeconomics, which typically deals with the behavior of individual consumers and firms, and macroeconomics, which analyzes the aggregate behavior of the domestic or international economy.

You will examine the role that assumptions and values play in economics, how these help to create different schools of economic thought (including: Neoclassical, New Keynesian, New Classical, Keynesian, and Post Keynesian), and how they lead to the debates that occur within economics.

You will explore the latest economic ideas and their application to such fields as: finance, labor, environmental economics, industrial organization, public finance, health, development, and econometrics.

You will learn how different societies organize the allocation of scarce resources among competing needs and what the consequences are for equity, efficiency and economic growth.

Through the SATA Program, you will have the opportunity to observe the differences among economies in such diverse countries as Peru, Vietnam, and Italy.

By taking courses in related areas such as international relations, government, sociology, and environmental studies, you will come to understand the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach to economic issues.

Among the important skills that you will develop by majoring in economics are the following:

• The ability to write concisely, clearly, and critically
• The ability to formulate and test economic hypotheses
• The ability to analyze and critique different schools of economic thought
• The ability to use software packages such as Stata to gather and analyze relevant economic data
• The ability to formulate and carry out a research project
• The ability to read scholarly journals

By the time you have completed your major, you will be prepared to undertake jobs relating to economics, to undertake graduate work in economics or business, and, most importantly, to develop a life-long enjoyment of reading, interpreting, and critically evaluating economic literature in all its forms.