Economics

Whether your future career lies in the City or elsewhere, this specialised degree will develop your understanding of economics and so give you a valuable insight into topical issues.

How do markets work? What constraints and choices influence everyday and political decision-making? What is the role of government in making economic policy?

Economics has three main objectives:

• To explain...
  Given a wide range of circumstances, how does an individual make a rational choice between the available alternatives?
• To understand...
  How can we understand the nature of social institutions, such as firms and markets, within which such choices are made?
• To analyse...
  How do these individuals and institutions interact to generate outcomes for society as a whole?

The Economics Tripos at Cambridge focuses on giving you a sound understanding of the core of economics, pure and applied. However, while the specialised nature of this degree enables you to concentrate on studying economics in considerable depth, the breadth of the aims outlined above means that economists need to employ modes of thought and techniques drawn from many other disciplines, among them history, sociology, mathematics and statistics, and philosophy.

Therefore our course aims to develop your knowledge of the workings of economic systems along with a sense of the economic dimensions of social and political issues.

By integrating a wide range of theoretical insights with empirical observation, the study of economics will enable you to apply your knowledge and understanding to the practical issues which arise in the formulation of economic and social policy, industrial and financial management, and many other spheres of life. This means that our graduates are extremely well qualified for a wide range of jobs and further courses.

Faculty resources and teaching
The Economics Faculty in Cambridge is one of the largest in the UK. Past and present members have played a major role in the development of the subject: Alfred Marshall, John Maynard Keynes and many other distinguished economists spent much of their working lives as members of the Faculty. The most recent holder of the senior chair within the Faculty, Professor Sir James Mirrlees, was awarded a Nobel Prize in Economics in 1996 for his work on optimal taxation and the theory of incentives, and a recent member of the Faculty, Professor Amartya Sen, was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1998 for his work on welfare economics and income distribution. The present Faculty continues its longestablished interest in public economics, macroeconomics, competition and regulation econometrics and economic theory. Members of the teaching and research staff are also involved in a wide range of research projects.

Another tradition upheld by current Faculty members is that of involvement in public policy. Recent Faculty staff have been active on, among other bodies, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, the Competition Commission, the Low Pay Commission and the Accounting Standards Board. A number of Faculty staff advise international agencies such as the United Nations, World Bank, IMF and OECD. The Faculty of Economics, which celebrated its 100th birthday in September 2003, remains committed to using economics for the improvement of public policy.

You will discover that there are other benefits in studying economics at Cambridge. The Marshall Library of Economics, one of the finest in the UK, provides a large and comprehensive collection of books, journals and other papers in economics, as well as convenient study facilities on the same site as the lecture rooms. The Faculty maintains its own computer network, and students have extensive access to a wide range of statistical databases and software.

The student-run Marshall Society is a must for all Cambridge economists: it organises social events as well as informal lectures from distinguished visiting speakers such as the Governor of the Bank of England.

The Faculty admits a large number of graduate students from the UK and overseas. Further information about the graduate programme is available in the University’s Graduate Studies Prospectus and on the Faculty’s website.

Career and research opportunities
During your time at Cambridge, you can expect to develop your skills in understanding complex arguments, the analysis of practical issues, knowledge of economic conditions, analysis of data, and effective communication. Such skills are of value in many subsequent careers, but particularly in professional, financial and managerial occupations.

A substantial number of our graduates go on to professional training in chartered accountancy, actuarial work and similar fields: others are employed by financial institutions, or as professional economists in industry, government and management consultancy.

Former undergraduates who have been particularly successful are the Governor of the Bank of England and the Economics Editor of The Times. If you are interested in further academic study, there are many Masters degree courses in Cambridge and elsewhere in the UK, both in general economics and in various specialised sub-disciplines, for which the wide range of skills acquired in the Economics Tripos provides a valuable foundation.

Tripos transfers
It is possible to combine Economics with another subject, either by spending the first year taking Part I Economics and then transferring to another subject such as Law or Politics, Psychology & Sociology, or by completing two years of Economics followed by a final-year subject such as Management Studies. You can also study another subject such as Mathematics for one year before transferring to Part IIA Economics. Several students make such changes each year.

Course outline

The Economics Tripos is divided into Part I, Part IIA and Part IIB, each lasting a year. Teaching is provided through lectures and supervisions and you can expect between 32 and 40 hours of lectures for each paper. Assessment is through formal, written examinations that take place at the end of each year and the compulsory dissertation in Part IIB. Typically you will have one three-hour exam for each paper covered that year. There are also projects within the Econometrics papers in all three years of the course. Part I Year 1 Part I provides an introduction to the subject: a common core of knowledge which can subsequently be extended. There are five compulsory papers: Microeconomics Macroeconomics Quantitative Methods Politics (political and sociological aspects of economics) British Economic History Through these papers you cover topics such as supply and demand, the role of prices and markets, employment, inflation, the operation of financial institutions and monetary policy. The Quantitative Methods paper provides an introduction to the use of mathematical and statistical techniques in economics.

Part IIA Year 2 Part IIA consists of three compulsory papers (Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics) plus one optional paper, chosen from Development, Sociology or Mathematics. Through these papers students will acquire a knowledge and understanding of a range of key topics and analytical techniques in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory; develop a knowledge of key econometric techniques, and demonstrate the IT skills needed to undertake a project in applied econometrics; study an optional paper in a supporting discipline which will enable them to undertake more advanced papers in Part IIB. Part IIB Year 3 The final year consists of two compulsory papers (Microeconomics and Macroeconomics), two optional papers and a compulsory dissertation. One of the objectives of the final year is to extend your knowledge of economic theory and train you to apply this theory to practical issues and public policy.