Economics
Photo: Brian Wilson, Office of Communications, Princeton University
Economics at Princeton is regarded and taught as part of a liberal education, not as vocational training. A unique combination of scientific method and social concerns constitutes its main intellectual attraction. It also provides a good background for careers in business and government, and for graduate study in economics, public policy, business, and law. It equips students with the skills and knowledge needed to understand the operation of a modern economy, to think and write clearly about economic problems and policy issues, and to analyze economic data. The department's faculty has a multitude of interests, and it offers courses and research guidance over a wide range of topics. The department ranks among the top five in the world, and its alumni include Jack Bogle '51 (founder, Vanguard Funds); Alan Blinder '67 (member, President's Council of Economic Advisers 1993-4 and Vice-Chairman, Federal Reserve Board 1994-6); John Taylor '68 (Undersecretary of the Treasury 2001-5); Halbert White '72 (Professor, UC San Diego); and Jeremy Stein '83 (Professor, Harvard Business School) and Jeff Zwiebel '87 (Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business), both winners of the Halbert White '72 Prize in Economics.
What Students Say
• What is economics?
• What can you learn from it?
• What is it like being an economics major?
• What are common misconceptions about economics majors?
• What kind of internships and international experiences have economics majors had?
• How will economics majors save the world?
• Why would anyone want to date an economics major?
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• What can you learn from it?
• What is it like being an economics major?
• What are common misconceptions about economics majors?
• What kind of internships and international experiences have economics majors had?
• How will economics majors save the world?
• Why would anyone want to date an economics major?
Economics encompasses a lot of topics, including trade, competition, profit maximization, finance, economic and technological growth, and optimal public policy. In general, economics focuses on efficiency—how to get the best results (whether that be money, health, clean air, or anything else) at the lowest cost.
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1. How to efficiently allocate your resources.
2. Statistics and modeling—something that is useful wherever you end up in life.
3. Basic programming from statistical modeling programs.
4. How to think like an economist and evaluate problems within a structured economic framework.
5. How interconnected and complex the world is—every organizational unit, from an individual all the way up to a supranational organization, makes decisions that affect other units. What keeps such a world going forward is the alignment of interests. While there may be valid conflicting interests in any setting, it is generally in everyone's best interest to participate in comprehensive discussions rather than to watch things/companies/industries/etc. fall apart.
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What is it like being an economics major?
The department is one of Princeton's largest, which means it is pretty well organized but you have to put in a little extra effort to get to know your professors on a personal level. Being a member of the economics department is an incredible opportunity to interact with some of the leading thinkers in the field. And the resources available to undergraduates (not just graduates—as at most universities) are amazing.
There is a lot of variety among the departmental electives, both in terms of topic and in terms of quantitative vs. qualitative content. Some courses are very theoretical while some are more about applications; some have weekly problem sets while a few are heavier on reading/papers. There are also many consistently approved cognates in other departments such as SOC, PSY, MAT, COS, ORF, and WWS.
You have one year-long JP instead of several, but you have to put in more statistical analysis than is generally required by departments with several JPs. For the JP and thesis, you can choose to either promote your own economic theory or use existing data (Firestone has a lot of resources) to perform an empirical study (most people take the empirical route). You can choose just about any topic for an econ paper. For instance, one student’s JP looked at the effect of health insurance programs on student achievement. It is more important to look at something that interests you from the perspective of an economist rather than deal with a "typical" econ topic. It's possible to apply economics to almost anything (labor, health, the environment, agriculture, education, crime, etc.); the primary limiting factor when choosing a topic for empirical study is data availability.
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Many think economics majors all end up on Wall Street at investment banks, but the truth is that economics majors end up in a variety of fields. Though the skill set acquired through taking economics courses is marketable towards investment banks, that same skill set is applicable to other areas as well. People are looking for students who have common sense and can think analytically in real world terms.
Another misconception is that we are in this for the money and/or we don't know what else to major in. While both of these may apply to some of us to some degree, the fact of the matter is, at the end of the day, if we didn't enjoy the topic, we wouldn't be here.
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We've had internships in newspaper advertising departments, in nonprofits, and at economics/finance consulting firms. We've also worked for Princeton professors, the editorial section of news magazines, and the research division of investment banks.
If you want to major in econ and do a semester abroad, make sure to go in your sophomore year or schedule your core courses accordingly—while there have been exceptions, the department generally requires that 300-level macro, micro, and econometrics be taken at Princeton. Summers are also a good chance to go and explore the economic and political situations of other countries.
Economics makes the world go around. Most major policy decisions require some sort of economics because most of our problems (the financial crisis, environmental degradation, healthcare, etc.) require resources (money) and economists try to tackle these issues in the most efficient/cost-effective way possible.
We will also save the world by connecting the dots that link "pure" social sciences with quantitative disciplines such as applied math, computer science, and financial engineering.
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Why not? Look at how baller former department chair Ben Bernanke is these days. And you can discuss current economic/political events on every date!
Because we speak a universal language, that of common sense and making the most out of any circumstances! (Or at least we are supposed to...)
Also... because economists maximize everything!