Economics
What is Economics?
LMU's Economics major helps students gain an understanding of the limitations and successes of the systems of production, distribution, and consumption of material wealth. Because of the economy's importance to the human condition, economic knowledge is useful in many fields, such as political science, sociology, anthropology, law, and history.
Economists study everything from ethics to elections and discrimination to drug dealing. Based on these studies, they develop theories that help us understand how actual economies work.
The breadth, practical relevance, and rigorous analytical training involved in the study of economics give students great flexibility in career choice and graduate study.
What do Economics majors do?
Economics majors learn about more than just math and money. Students learn how to analyze patterns in fluctuations in economic activity. They learn to use statistics and other tools. Majors also explore economic history, economic philosophies, and important economic institutions, such as the Federal Reserve System and The World Bank.
LMU offers a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. Economics majors desiring a second major in Business Administration can easily complete the requirements for both within four years. The degrees are good preparation for careers in business, government or the secondary classroom. They also prepare students for graduate study in business, law or economics.
Is this major right for you?
You might be an Economics major if you:
- Are interested in business
- Are interested in law, government, or finance
- Enjoy problem solving
- Enjoy analysis
- Like math and statistics
About our faculty
Our faculty members are respected scholars and researchers who hold degrees from top economics graduate programs, including those at Berkeley, MIT, Purdue, and UCLA. Many have worked for institutions such as The World Bank. Our instructors are widely published in journals such as American Economic Review, Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and International Journal of Game Theory.
Among the faculty are a number of noted experimental economists. LMU is home to an Experimental Economics Laboratory, which trains future business leaders to consider the social and ethical implications of their actions.
About our students and graduates
Our students have opportunities to conduct research in the Experimental Economics Laboratory, participate in experiments, earn money and gain experience assisting faculty with cutting edge research.
Our program's graduates often might choose to work in finance, the investments industry, or market research, or as insurance analysts, real estate commodities traders, securities brokers, or real estate investors. Among today’s chief executive officers, economics is the second most common likely undergraduate major of today's CEOs.
LMU Economics graduates have entered successful careers at companies such as Boeing, Morgan Stanley, American Express, and HealthNet. Others have founded their own businesses, attended prestigious law schools, earned doctoral degrees and gone on to work at high-level posts in federal, state and local governments.
Representative courses
Our offered courses have included:
- Personal Finance
- Urban Economics
- U.S. Economic History
- Game Theory
- Law and Economics
- Experimental Economics
- Economics and Ethics
- Economic Development
- Managerial Economics
- Forecasting Methods
- Chinese Economic and Business System
- International Trade
- International Finance Theory
- Economic Geography
- Econometrics