Economics

Economics is often viewed as a dry discipline which has little to say about the real world, however nothing could be further from the truth. A good understanding of economics will allow you an insight into a wide range of social issues and problems, ranging from the most important and pressing facing the planet today, to every-day phenomena, central to the way society is organised, but that most people take for granted.

For example, have you ever wondered about:

The best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Why the populations of Western countries are so wealthy and the populations of Third World countries so poor?
What are 'market forces'? and why do most governments allow them to determine the allocation of resources in society?
What causes unemployment?
Why do prices sometimes rise very quickly, but sometimes rise very slowly?
Why are some goods very expensive (e.g. caviar) and others so cheap (e.g. baked beans)?
Why do we use money? Could society function without it?
Why are some industries dominated by one large firm (e.g. Microsoft Windows, computer operating system), whereas in other industries, many firms compete for business (e.g. mortgage lending)?

If you have , you will find the study of economics interesting.

Economists answer the questions above by developing and applying theoretical economic principles to these issues in a rigorous and impartial manner. As a student of economics you will learn to develop theoretical models and apply them, in order to gain an understanding of the issues mentioned above as well as most other real world social phenomena.