"Most of economics can be summarized in four words: "People respond to incentives."  The rest is commentary."  
excerpts from Chapter 1 of THE ARMCHAIR ECONOMIST: Economics and Everyday Life by Steven E. Landsburg

"What improves the circumstances of the greater part can never be regarded as an inconveniency to the whole. No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable."  Adam Smith

"No science in the world is more elevated, more necessary and more
useful than economics." Carl Linnaeus, excerpts from The Economist, May 17, 2007

Economics is the branch of social science that studies how people choose to allocate scarce resources to unlimited wants. There are two main branches of economics - Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. Microeconomics examines the behavior and function of individual decision-making units i.e. business firms and households. It is applied in areas like environment, health, industrial organization, labor and urban economics. Macroeconomics examines the behavior and functioning of the aggregate economy including income, output, employment, price, wages etc. Monetary, development and international economics are some fields where the tools of macroeconomics are used.

The Economics Program offers Liberal Arts and Sciences courses which focus on understanding the principles of economics for private enterprise market economies especially, the United States economy, as well as the workings of the global economy. Undergraduate courses in economics provide broad knowledge of the field including theory and real life applications of theory. The program offers both a major, a minor and a concentration with International Business to students who are interested in professional graduate training in economics or in careers in business, law, government, or journalism.

Why Study Economics? Careers in Economics. Comments from Rest of the World Hot Major

For more detailed information, students are encouraged to inquire at the department office.