耶鲁大学

Economics is much broader than the study of recessions and inflation or stocks and bonds. Economists study decision making and incentives and how taxes create incentives for labor market and savings behavior. Many current public policy debates concern questions of economics, including: causes and consequences of inequality and gender and racial wage gaps; how to address poverty; the impact of immigration and trade on the well-being of a country’s citizens; the cause of the Great Recession; and how to predict future downturns.

Those with economics training find employment in government agencies, non-profits, and, of course, economic consulting and investment banking. In addition to pursuing advanced degrees in economics, economics majors go on to do graduate work in law and business.

Introductory Courses

Introductory courses in microeconomics; macroeconomics; and data analysis and econometrics serve students considering a major in Economics, as well as others who seek an introduction to the subject. ECON 115 is concerned with microeconomics and includes such topics as markets, prices, production, distribution, and the allocation of resources. ECON 116 covers such macroeconomic issues as unemployment, inflation, growth, and international economics. ECON 117 introduces students to basic aspects of working with data to answer economic questions, as well as to the fundamentals of statistical analysis. ECON 116 and 117 have microeconomics as a prerequisite. Despite the numbering, students may wish to take ECON 117 before or concurrently with ECON 116, as the data skills taught in ECON 117 may be helpful in ECON 116. ECON 115, 116, and 117 are lecture courses with accompanying discussion sections.

First-year students and sophomores looking for smaller, slightly more discussion-oriented versions of introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics may enter a lottery for admission to ECON 110 and 111. Those with little or no experience in calculus may be better served by ECON 108, which covers microeconomics with greater discussion of quantitative methods and examples. ECON 108, 110, and 115 are similar in substance; ECON 111 and 116 are similar in substance as well. A student may receive credit for only one course each in introductory microeconomics and introductory macroeconomics.

The department recommends that students interested in majoring in Economics take at least two introductory economics courses in the first year. In order to make the introductory courses available to all first-year students and to students majoring in other subjects, the introductory courses do not have a mathematics requirement.