Program Description Studying Economics provides students with valuable skills that will serve them well in many careers. A Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics allows graduates to pursue varied careers in areas such as economic forecasting, economic policy analysis, financial markets, and institutions and public policy. The undergraduate degree in economics also provides a basis for entry into graduate work in Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Law, Political Science, Political Economy and Public Administration. With a concentration in Public Policy, students will examine economics of crime and criminal justice, international economics, public economics, and contemporary economic issues among many other subjects.
Economics is concerned with the fundamental principle upon which human activity revolves - our wants are unlimited while the resources available for their satisfaction are not. Any economic system must determine what is to be produced from these limited resources, and how the resulting output is to be distributed amongst its population. The human organization and economic machinery necessary for the resolution of this problem is a very complex matter, especially in a highly decentralized decision-making society such as our own private enterprise economy. The objectives of the discipline of economics are to explain how an economy works, how well it is performing, and how it may perform better. It may be noted here that economics is the only discipline within the Social Sciences where a Nobel Prize is awarded.
In addressing these concerns economics uses its own particular approach or manner of thinking. The goal of the Department of Economics is to develop in the student the capacity to “think like an economist”. To achieve this objective requires that our students become familiar with disciplined economic reasoning and therefore familiar with the analytical tools of economic science. The process involves the development of both problem-solving and creative skills. These attributes, in turn, increase the understanding of present day economic phenomena as well as promoting effective predictions of the consequences of changes in our evolving world. The student is prepared for the present and forearmed for the future.
