Economics

Course summary

“Every time I think about economics I learn something new.” Economics is a unique subject, bridging the gap between the arts and the sciences. We use the methods of the physical scientists where we can, while acknowledging that we are studying the behaviour of people and societies, and these are not always co-operative in obeying rules, laws and theories. There are very few questions indeed to which economists have discovered The Answer – but we have enormous fun in trying to work out the best answer to a given question about, say, Brexit, the cost of living crisis or the effects of the Covid pandemic. Economics is always changing: when an event occurs that does not fit with what we expect, we must look closely at our theories and alter them. Priorities are changing, too, as the world changes: there is now far more emphasis on the global economy, inequality and ethics than there was even five years ago.