Overview

The Economics program of Northwestern University will help students to understand how markets function. This knowledge is useful for a variety of entry-level jobs in government, industry, or finance. A rapidly growing area of employment for majors, especially those who have strong analytical skills in mathematics and statistics, is management consulting. Another is banking, both commercial banking and investment banking. Governments at all levels, including international organizations such as the United Nations, are also significant employers of economics majors for positions involving analyses of revenues and expenditures, cost benefit studies of programs in education, health, and transportation.

As individuals, families, and nations, we confront difficult choices about how to use limited resources to meet our needs and wants. Economists study how these choices are made in various settings, evaluate the outcomes in terms of criteria such as efficiency, equity, and stability, and search for alternative forms of economic organization that might produce higher living standards or a more desirable distribution of material well being.

Career paths

A student of economics will have a good understanding of how markets function. This knowledge is useful for a variety of entry-level jobs in government, industry, or finance. Many large corporations and labor unions employ economists to prepare forecasts and to examine developments in national or local markets that may affect future costs and profits. A rapidly growing area of employment for majors, especially those who have strong analytical skills in mathematics and statistics, is management consulting. Another is banking, both commercial banking and investment banking. Governments at all levels, including international organizations such as the United Nations, are also significant employers of economics majors for positions involving analyses of revenues and expenditures, cost benefit studies of programs in education, health, and transportation.