What is economics?
Simply put, economics is the study of decision-making in the presence of resource scarcity. As such, it complements (and is complemented by) a multitude of fields, which range from philosophy and psychology, to politics and history, to business.
Even more, economics influences the design and implementation of monetary and fiscal policies, and social safety-net programs such as Unemployment Insurance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Economics research also sheds light on the benefits and costs of market power and the role or regulation.
In addition, current and past work in the field allows us to understand the link between consumption, poverty and welfare as well as the importance of institutions, contracts, the rule of law, and private property rights in promoting growth and development. Economics also provides answers to questions regarding international trade and capital patterns as well as the locational choice of multinational enterprises.
Our program
The Economics Department at SUNY Oswego has established a national and an international reputation for the quality of its teaching and research. The department is small enough such that students and faculty easily interact with each other. This, however, does not preclude the department from offering courses across a wide array of fields such as American Economic History, Baseball Economics, Economic Development, Environmental Economics, Health Economics, Industrial Organization, International Trade, International Finance, Labor Economics, and Monetary Economics. In collaboration with the mathematics department, we also offer a major in Mathematical Economics.
We take pride in motivating, challenging, and preparing our students for employment within the banking and finance, insurance, healthcare, and human resource management sectors, federal, state, and local government branches, or private research and consulting firms, or further study opportunities as graduate students.
What skills do our students graduate with?
Economics students are trained to think critically (about individual consumer conduct, the behavior of U.S. and foreign firms and economies, as well as the connections between them) in order to answer policy-relevant questions and solve a wide array of complex problems. Our courses also emphasize the development of quantitative and data-analysis skills as well as practical written and verbal communication skills.
One way to develop and hone these skills is to i) take our econometrics course during the spring semester of your junior year, ii) take an independent study (and use your econometrics) during the fall semester of your senior year, and iii) present the results of your study at QUEST during the following spring semester.
The skills outlined above are highly valued by firms in the private sector, policy makers in various governmental branches, and researchers in the academic arena because of their direct applicability to the salient issues of our time. The O*NET Database, part of the O*NET Program, is the nation’s primary source of occupational information. Among occupation specific information such as tasks, skills, work activities, and work contexts relevant to economists, it also lists the 2024, median wage rate (i.e., $55.5/hour) or the combined annual wages (i.e., $115,440). The information is available here.
