Our department has identified five specific learning goals for our majors. First, they will learn economic theory. Second, they will become familiar with statistical analysis and be able to construct and test rigorous models of individual and aggregate behavior. Third, they will learn how to interpret empirical results in the context of competing explanations. Fourth, they will understand the role of public policy in addressing economic problems. Lastly, they will be able to analyze effectively economic phenomena and to clearly communicate that analysis.

Students who take our courses learn about a wide range of forces that shape our economy and society.  Our curriculum emphasizes economic theory, statistical analysis, and the role of public policy in addressing economic and social problems.  We are committed to teaching students how to construct and test rigorous models of individual and aggregate behavior and how to interpret empirical results in the context of competing explanations.  We offer a broad range of courses designed to serve the aspirations of all economics majors as well as the intellectual purposes of the broader student body. 

Majors adopt either a general or a mathematical approach to the study of economics. Students may specialize in financial, managerial, international, and industrial economics, or another area of focus. Some classes make extensive use of the computer instruction facilities in the Carnegie and Hahn buildings and at Information Technology Services. Also introductory courses are kept to a very small size to facilitate faculty-student interaction.

Tahir Andrabi analyzes the education of young women in Pakistan, the economics of international borrowing and the export performance of developing nations; and is doing joint work with professor Kuehlwein on the effects of railways on market integration and famines in British India. Peter Bergevin specializes in managerial accounting and financial analysis; and the role of accounting information in decision making. Eleanor Brown '75, is a specialist in the areas of charitable giving, volunteer labor, and the nonprofit sector. Ludwig Chincarini specializes in portfolio management, quantitative equity management, and derivatives.  His research interests include portfolio strategies, investment tax issues, and derivatives, and hedge funds. Cecilia Conrad studies and writes about poverty among women and families. Bowman Cutter’s research spans a range of environmental topics, including: market-based environmental regulation, the political economy of environmental policy, groundwater valuation, water quality issues, and land use. Pierangelo De Pace's empirical research focuses on international macroeconomic comovement, business cycle fluctuations, the predictive content of the term structure of interest rates; on the theoretical side, he is currently working on the instrumental variable estimation of limited information simultaneous equation models and on dynamic models with discrete dependent variables. Glenn Hueckel studies and writes on the history of economic theory and is an Adam Smith scholar. John Jurewitz studies environmental and natural resource economics and specializes in energy economics and policy. Michael Kuehlwein focuses on theories of income tax overwithholding and is doing joint work with Professor Andrabi on the effects of railways on market integration and famines in British India.  James Likens focuses on the financial services industry with an emphasis on credit unions.  Fernando Lozano is an applied labor economist who primarily focuses on immigration. Stephen Marks serves as an adviser to the U.S. State Department and to the Indonesian Ministry of Trade on international trade policy and his research includes quantifying the effects of trade and other policies throughout the Indonesian economy. Neva Novarro’s research in public economics looks at the effects of state government revenue and expenditure policies with a specific focus on earmarking and pre-commitment practices relating to state lotteries, the environment, and blue laws. June O'Leary specializes in health economics and health policy.  Her research interests include Medicare managed care and quality of care. Slavi Slavov’s current research deals with the impact of the Euro and other such monetary integration projects on inflation and on current account dynamics. Gary Smith's research generally has either a finance or statistical angle, though he has also looked at the socioeconomic mobility of the daughters of immigrant mothers and used the gravity model to evaluate the site value of tribal casinos.   Michael Steinberger uses state of the art econometric methods to analyze wage differentials between different groups: men vs. women, college educated vs. high school graduate, and straight vs. gay and lesbian.

The Economics Club sponsors career discussions with visiting alumni, co-hosts an annual personal financial planning seminar for students, and plans social and sports activities with faculty, including Women in Economics luncheon meetings. The Senior Colloquium has hosted internationally known guest speakers such as renowned British banker Sir Andrew Crockett and economists Asim Khwaja from the Harvard Kennedy School, Kevin Lang from Boston University, and Preston McAfee from Cal Tech. The Investment Club and Sagehen Capital Management offer students the opportunity to manage real investment funds.

Our curriculum prepares our graduates for rewarding careers in academia, government, finance, law, journalism, consulting, business, and the non-profit sector. Graduates have engaged in activities such as organizing an agricultural extension service for drought-ridden areas of Africa, writing for The Wall Street Journal, trading yen on the foreign exchange market, and starting retail businesses. Karen Horn, a 1965 Pomona graduate, was the first woman to serve as president of a Federal Reserve Bank.