Economics

Economics is the study of how individuals and societies make choices when resources are limited, and of the consequences those choices have for markets, institutions, and human welfare. It examines how prices emerge from the interactions of buyers and sellers, how firms decide what to produce and at what cost, how governments intervene in markets and with what effects, and how economies grow, stagnate or collapse over time. Studying economics at degree level means engaging with both the formal mathematical models through which economists analyse behaviour and the empirical evidence that tests those models against the real world.

At the University of Glasgow you will follow a four-year programme, reflecting the depth and breadth of the Scottish Honours degree. You will build strong foundations in microeconomics and macroeconomics in your early years, developing the analytical frameworks that underpin the discipline. As you progress you will study more advanced theory alongside econometrics, the statistical discipline that allows economists to identify patterns and test hypotheses in data.

The programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study economics in an international environment and to experience different academic traditions and policy contexts.

The choices that economists analyse, about costs, benefits, risks and effects on others, are the choices that shape government policy, corporate strategy, and individual life chances. Understanding them gives you a powerful analytical lens that transfers across a wide range of careers. Graduates work in financial services, investment banking, management and public policy consultancy, central banking and regulatory agencies, international development organisations, and the civil service.

Many go on to postgraduate study in economics, econometrics, finance, or public policy, particularly those interested in research or in the more technical dimensions of economic practice. For students who want to understand how the world works and why it distributes its benefits as unequally as it does, economics provides rigorous and endlessly applicable tools.