Economics provides a framework for understanding human behavior and the decisions made by people, businesses, and governments as they seek to satisfy their objectives within constraints.

Bowdoin’s department of economics develops students’ ability to apply the discipline’s theoretical and empirical techniques and findings to real-world problems. While economists often focus on the marketplace, economics can shed new light on policy areas as disparate as the environment, family, and legal system. Many economists pursue their work to contribute to social well-being and the common good. 

Our department is committed to supporting the needs of all Bowdoin students, including those who want to be economic analysts and those who want to incorporate economic perspectives into other fields or their everyday lives. Importantly, thinking like an economist is nonpartisan: one can use the tools of economics to benefit others regardless of one’s background, political orientation, or preferred policy outcomes.

VIDEO: Why Economics? Economics majors talk about what drew them to the major.
VIDEO: The expertise of Bowdoin's professors exemplifies the expansive reach of the economics field.

Scared of math? No need to be! Economists use math and numbers to clarify ideas and express them precisely. We believe the math used in our economics courses is within all Bowdoin students’ abilities, and we provide extra help in getting students up to speed. 

Please let us know (drop by or email our chair, Erik Nelson, enelson2@bowdoin.edu) if you have any questions about economics at Bowdoin! 

Interested in studying economics at Bowdoin?

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