Department of Economics and Statistics

Many Reasons to Study Economics

Economics is an insightful study of how people behave and organizations operate under constraints of resources.  It provides powerful tools to understand and analyze many aspects of our lives and help us to be an informed, perceptive decision-maker.  Decision-making is an integral part of business or governmental organizations.  The economics department at Cal State LA offers a modern curriculum to prepare you for future endeavors and to meet unforeseen challenges successfully.  There are many good reasons to study economics:

(1) To be a knowledgeable worker, consumer, investor, and citizen

Economics training helps develop methodical ways of thinking and problem solving which can be used in our lives as effective members of the workforce, responsible and knowledgeable citizens, informed consumers, savers, and investors, and perceptive participants in the global economy. 

(2) To acquire a set of important skills for career-building

A key element for getting a job and succeeding in a career is your set of desirable skills.  Economics training offers individuals a terrific set of marketable skills.  They include written communication and presentation skills, quantitative communication skills, and analytical problem-solving skills.  Learning to communicate your ideas in writing and presentation to a broad range of audiences is a key component of our economic curriculum.  Economics majors are also trained to understand numerical data and recognize their importance, use a variety of data analysis and computing tools, and communicate quantitative information to others.   Moreover, there is no better major to acquire analytical problem-solving skills than economics.  Economic principles can be applied to identify the core elements of many problems confronting business and government and to formulate effective decisions to tackle those problems. 

(3) To seek employment that interests you

Finding employment that interests you can be crucial for a successful and fulfilling career.  Studying economics is exciting and fun, and it opens a wide variety of career opportunities for individuals.  Economics graduates have gone on to rewarding professional careers in industry, trade, banking and finance, law, consulting, government, research, and education.  The career flexibility is coupled with the fact that economists often receive high salaries. 

(4) To gain a solid foundation for other advanced fields of study

Because of vigorous and comprehensive training, economics majors are sought by not only employers but also graduate schools.  Graduate study in law, business, politics, or public policy commonly demands logical thinking abilities and strong investigative and quantitative skills.  Indeed, economics is one of the most highly respected academic disciplines.  The importance of economic analysis is notably recognized as one of the disciplines in which a Nobel Prize is awarded.