Overview and Learning Goals

Overview

The major in economics is designed for students who wish to obtain knowledge of the theoretical and empirical techniques of economics, and to learn how these techniques complement other perspectives learned at Bowdoin. The major provides an opportunity to learn economics as a social science, to study the process of drawing inferences from bodies of data and testing hypotheses against observation, and to apply economic theory to social objectives, including those that are not obviously "economic" in nature. Economics as a way of thinking is broadly useful to many students who are interested in a wide range of individual goals and social concerns (pursuit of "The Common Good"). Economics addresses the functioning of economic institutions (i.e., financial markets, labor markets, corporations, government agencies), and current policy issues: determinants of the pace and nature of economic development; the allocation of health-care services; impacts of urban policy and the design of cities; the advantages and disadvantages of government spending and debt; the tendency toward poverty and its alleviation; human impacts on the environment and ways of addressing them; environmental justice; the effects of globalization and technological change on various groups across society; arguments for and against deregulation; the economics of racial and gender injustice, etc. The major is a useful preparation for work in law, business administration, finance, public administration, medicine, environmental policy, education, agricultural work, computer science, non-profit work, and many other fields. Students interested in graduate school in law, business, finance, data science, public policy, public health, and economics will also find the major great preparation.

Learning Goals

The following are main learning goals for students of economics at Bowdoin College. While these goals are targeted toward majors, they also apply to students pursuing the minor in economics and the minor in economics and finance.

In addition to majors and minors, the economics department serves other constituencies at the College: those interested primarily in satisfying their MCSR requirement; those interested in obtaining a baseline level of economic literacy to complement the rest of their liberal arts education; and those taking economics courses as an explicit part (core course or elective) of another course of study. Many, but perhaps not all, of the goals presented below apply to these other student groups as well.

Goal 1: Demonstrate understanding of the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, basic research findings, and methods in economics. 

Breadth in the discipline is accomplished through ECON 1050 Principles of Microeconomics and Quantitative Reasoning or ECON 1101 Principles of Microeconomics and ECON 1102 Principles of Macroeconomics, and in three core classes: ECON 2555 Microeconomics, ECON 2556 Macroeconomics, and ECON 2557 Economic Statistics. In addition, majors are required to complete four topics courses, three at the advanced level. The advanced-level courses provide depth in a particular topic, ask students to more rigorously apply some of the analytical tools first introduced in the core classes, and, in many cases, require students to write a long research paper. The minor is much more about breadth than depth. Still, each minor is exposed to all the introductory material, one intermediate-level theory course, one statistics course (not necessarily in economics), and one or two applied courses.

Goal 2: Apply principles of economics to conceptually understand behavior of individuals, households, firms, nongovernmental organizations, and governments in the real world.

This goal is achieved in introductory courses (ECON 1101 Principles of Microeconomics and ECON 1102 Principles of Macroeconomics), which many students take to gain “economic literacy,” as well as in our intermediate elective courses. This goal is also present in advanced classes. 

Goal 3: Use algebraic, graphical, and numerical tools to build “models,” i.e., simplified representations of individual, firm, and government incentives and behaviors that affect the allocation of scarce resources.

The use of theoretical models is central to the methodology of economics, and modeling is prevalent throughout all of our courses. In core courses, more sophisticated models using calculus are developed. The tools developed in the introductory and core courses are used in intermediate and upper-level electives, respectively, in the construction of more context-specific models. In addition, students in intermediate and upper-level electives and in ECON 2557 Economic Statistics are introduced to methods that allow economists to estimate or calibrate the models with data.

Goal 4: Articulate economic arguments using a range of “modalities”: verbal, graphical, algebraic/mathematical, and numerical. 

This goal is addressed in all economics courses, starting with ECON 1101 Principles of Microeconomics and ECON 1102 Principles of Macroeconomics. Intermediate and advanced electives emphasize verbal arguments to a greater extent; introductory and core courses focus more on graphical and algebraic tools and the ability to numerically characterize outcomes. Advanced courses employ more sophisticated mathematical methods, such as constrained optimization, control theory, etc. 

Goal 5: Communicate effectively both orally and through writing to transmit information and to construct a cogent argument.

This goal is addressed primarily in economics seminar courses, which all include a significant research paper.  Many intermediate-level courses also have students synthesize and critique economic arguments in the popular press and other nontechnical publications. In many intermediate-level electives and advanced seminars, students are required to make oral presentations to the class.   

Goal 6: Acquire skills to empirically test economic hypotheses and otherwise extract insight from data; understand the distinction between causation and spurious correlation.

This goal is addressed primarily in the ECON 2557 Economic Statistics core course and ECON 3516 Econometrics, but also in some elective courses. Students in many upper-level seminars employ statistical methods in a limited context and interpret the empirical results presented in the peer-reviewed literature. Many independent studies and honors students in economics include a significant empirical/statistical component in their work.

Goal 7: Utilize economic reasoning to assess the impacts of different policies and to understand how the perspective of economics can illuminate current events and policy debates.

The analysis of policy begins in economics introductory courses, where students develop simple models of the intervention of government in markets (e.g., taxation and price controls in ECON 1101 Principles of Microeconomics; monetary and fiscal policies in ECON 1102 Principles of Macroeconomics). ECON 2555 Microeconomics and ECON 2556 Macroeconomics carry out similar analysis with higher technical sophistication. Several elective courses are also offered that emphasize policy solutions to address market failure and achieve distributional equity goals, e.g., ECON 2001 Economic Policy, ECON 2218 Environmental Economics and Policy, ECON 2228 Natural Resource Economics and Policy, ECON 3511 Economic Evaluation of Public Programs, and ECON 3560 Urban Economics.

Goal 8: Understand both the usefulness and the limitations of economic methodology, as well as the assumed values (and perhaps “biases”) implicit in economic modeling approaches. Understand the difference between positive and normative statements. Understand and articulate the distinctions between economics and other social science fields, as well as the ways these fields can jointly enhance understanding of human systems.

Introductory and theory courses firmly emphasize the scientific nature of economics, i.e., its emphasis on positive/testable characterizations and predictions of human behavior rather than normative assertions. Throughout the curriculum, the potential benefits of economic tools are emphasized, but also advocate “disciplinary humility.” While some courses are more inherently interdisciplinary than others (e.g., ECON 3518 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, ECON 2227 Human Resources and Economic Development), and others emphasize critique of orthodox economic-modeling frameworks (e.g., ECON 2221 Marxian Political Economy), virtually all courses stress that economic tools provide just one of many different valuable perspectives from which to understand human behavior and approach complex issues.

Goal 9: Understand the economic research process at the level of the peer-reviewed academic literature and evaluate its methods, findings, and conclusions; develop an ability to compare, critique, and understand connections between research findings in the peer-reviewed literature.

While students in any of the department's courses may be asked to read academic literature in economics, this goal is most consistently addressed by students in advanced courses. Seminar courses all include a culminating research project that requires in-depth engagement with the primary academic literature in economics.

Goal 10: Give students interested in the graduate study of economics the tools and knowledge necessary to be accepted at a top economics department.

The department's upper-level courses provide much of this background, acquaint students with the peer-reviewed literature, have them produce their own research project, and give them insights into their faculty member’s own research in a particular field of economics. Many of the students interested in graduate school undertake an honors project. Faculty also mentor those students interested in going on to graduate school; other relevant information is available on the departmental web page.

Options for Majoring and Minoring in the Department

Students in the Department of Economics may elect to major in economics, the mathematics and economics interdisciplinary major, or to coordinate a major in economics with digital and computational studies, education, or environmental studies. Students pursuing a coordinate or interdisciplinary major may not normally elect a second major. Non-majors may elect to minor in economics or economics and finance.

Department Website