Economics

“Economics is the study of mankind in the ordinary business of life.”

- Alfred Marshall
" The Theory of economics does not furnish a body of settled conclusions immediately applicable to policy. It is a method rather than a doctrine, an apparatus of the mind, a technique of thinking which helps the possessor to draw correct conclusions."
- John Maynard Keynes
“Economics is the study of how people make choices under conditions of scarcity and of the results of those choices for society.”

- Robert Frank, Ben Bernanke, et al.

the east gate entrance of mount royal

Economics studies how people, businesses, governments, and various institutions manage their limited resources to achieve the highest satisfaction from competing needs. In every area of our lives - what we buy, our finances, our education, our careers, our family, our health, our politics, etc. - economics reveals the choices we face and their consequences, and identifies solutions that bring us and our communities the greatest satisfaction.

As a social science, economics is not a concise discipline along the lines of physics or biology where research and data provide unequivocal answers. Part of the reason is that while economics prides itself in using mathematical rigour and lucid model building, it invariably applies to human behaviour which is variable and requires some knowledge of other social sciences (e.g. history, sociology, psychology), the natural sciences (e.g. mathematics, biology, geography), as well as the social and institutional framework.

At Mount Royal, students can undertake a minor in Economics. The core courses in microeconomics and macroeconomics, combined with a variety of other courses such as international trade, public finance, gender economics, economics of crime and criminal justice, econometrics, money and banking, and economic development provide a stimulating and challenging exploration of the discipline.

Programs

If you would like to study Economics or obtain a minor in Economics, you can enroll in: