Why study Economics?
Economics is a fascinating subject to study, as it helps you to look more deeply into the world around you – how and why it functions as it does. It can also give you new perspectives on some of the most pressing and challenging problems facing the world today. Economics does not revolve solely around wealth creation, or peaks and troughs in financial money markets and their effects on business performance. Economic decisions and activities impact on many different areas of society and on our own everyday lives – interest rate fluctuations, personal taxation, unemployment, labour force migration and football transfer prices, to name but a few. In a world where there is increasing debate about scarcity of resources, economics plays a key role in that it is fundamentally concerned with how to allocate those resources most efficiently.
"The Management School helped me develop skills that provided a solid foundation to enter the world of consulting."
Chris Barnes
BA Economics, 2005
Intellectual challenge
When you study economics at Lancaster you will be gaining a knowledge of economic principles and their application, and an understanding of different economic systems. You will also have opportunities to look at economic developments in their historical context. This is important as the application of economic models and theories to real-life situations is made more complex by social, political and international constraints.
Economics has close affinities with many other disciplines, which is why we offer a series of joint degrees in addition to our two single honours programmes.
Transferable skills for employment
As an economics student, you will be developing not only your knowledge of economics and related subjects, you will also be acquiring skills in many different areas – such as presenting and report-writing, self-management, problem-solving, IT, use of statistical methods, and analysing and interpreting data. The style of learning at LUMS means you will also gain vital experience in team-working and negotiating. So whether you are seeking a career as a professional economist or wanting to go into other areas of management, you will have a set of immensely valuable skills and knowledge for your future career.
Wide-ranging career opportunities
Economics graduates are keenly sought by employers, both in the private and public sector, and in terms of earnings tend to outperform many other social science graduates. They have a reputation for precise and analytical thinking – and the ability to evaluate arguments and decisions and assess the reliability of information. Our graduates find that their analytical and organisational skills, plus their ability to achieve insights into problems, are greatly valued by employers in many areas, including the financial sector, the civil service and corporate planning.
Our alumni profiles will give you an idea of what some of our graduates are now doing and what it was like to study at Lancaster.
