Rhodes University Faculty Of Commerce Economics
Economics
Economics, along with Psychology, Sociology, Politics and Anthropology is a Social Science. Economics concentrates on the aspects of human behaviour involved in the consumption and production of goods and services. It sets out to understand and explain how individuals, business firms, government and other agencies apply resources − labour, land and capital − and how their decisions collectively impact on employment, prices and the welfare of people and countries. The economy is the environment in which businesses operate, interests rates are determined, finance is obtained and international trade is conducted. It is also the environment in which individuals and households decide on what further education to pursue, what to do with their working lives and how to spend their earnings. To understand the complex workings of the economy, economists approach problems by using a particular way of thinking, which means that the emphasis in the discipline is on an economic logic, rather than on ready made recipes and remembering ‘facts’. It means, therefore, understanding is the key to the discipline, and that memorisation in economics is the sure road to disaster.
Economics covers topics such as Microeconomics (the study of production and consumption by households, firms and industries), Macroeconomics (the study of the economy as a whole, including monetary and fiscal policy, national income accounting, unemployment and inflation), International Trade, Public Finance, Money, Banking and International Finance, Economic History, Environmental Economics, Mathematical Economics and Econometrics.
Every student in the Commerce Faculty is required to study Economics for two years. It is seen as a vital foundation of underlying knowledge on which other disciplines can build. The thought processes, logic and skills acquired here are vital for you to successfully operate in a business environment. Since Economics touches so many parts of life it may equally be taken together with any of the Social Sciences, Sciences, Journalism, Law, and many others.
Economics at Rhodes is offered at a number of distinct levels. The first year course is intended as a broad introduction to the discipline which will give students taking only one year of Economics a sound understanding of basic issues, while laying the foundations on which more advanced study is built. In subsequent years students undertake more advanced study of Microeconomics, the underlying principles for the study of the individual firm or business, and Macroeconomics, the
study of the principles governing the operation of the wider economy. There is a strong focus on problems of the South African economy at all years of study.
Economics graduates are sought after in both the private and public sectors of the economy. Jobs in banking and other areas of the corporate world draw particularly on the skills of the economist. Similarly, graduates with economic training are in high demand in government Departments such as Finance and Trade and Industry.
For more information: Economics