Economics
Why Study Economics at W&L?
Economics is the study of decision making under scarcity, and it permeates almost every facet of political, commercial, industrial and even familial behavior in society. Do financial markets reflect rational behavior? Will Google, Apple and Tesla displace VW, GM and Toyota? How has the birth control pill affected women’s education and labor market decisions? Does corruption grease or sand the wheels of economic development? These are just a few examples of the full range of questions that we discuss in class at Washington and Lee.
Opportunities for Students
Student Activities: Co-curricular activities sponsored by the Williams School include the General Development Initiative, Mock Convention, Real Estate Society, Student Consulting, Venture Club and the Williams Investment Society.
Visiting Scholars: The W&L/VMI Economics Seminar series features local scholars as well as researchers from other universities who present original research from all fields of economics. The H. Parker Willis Lecture presents a prominent Federal Reserve official, and speakers have included Ben Bernanke, Frederic Mishkin and Eric Rosengren. The Executive-in-Residence is someone who has excelled in business and is invited to spend several days on campus meeting with students, visiting classes and providing one-on-one career mentoring.
Field Experiences: The Career and Professional Development Office has organized trips to locations such as Washington, D.C., that offer economics students the chance to explore careers in the field. The Economics Department offers Spring Term study abroad courses to locations such as Brazil, Denmark, Ghana and Nepal.
Research: W&L’s prestigious Summer Research Scholar program provides opportunities for students to work in the summer on faculty research projects.
After W&L
Employment: Graduates work in consulting, government, policy research, investment and commercial banks, nonprofits, businesses and start-up companies. Recent employers include Accenture, Barclays Bank, Berkeley Research Group, Economists Inc., EY, Facebook, Fulbright, The Federal Reserve System, Heritage Foundation, Marriott, Uber, JP Morgan, and Cushman & Wakefield.
Graduate School: Graduates also go to law school, graduate school for a master’s or doctorate in economics or a related field, and to MBA programs after several years of work. Recent schools include the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt, University of Chicago and University of Maryland.
Graduate Fellowships: Economics majors also enjoy success in competing for national scholarships and fellowships that fund other learning opportunities. Recent awards include the Fulbright Award, the Davis Projects for Peace prize, Venture for America and the Goldwater Scholarship.
Sample Courses
Money & Banking
A study of the fundamental principles of money, credit and banking in the United States. Emphasis is on modern conditions and problems, with particular attention to the validity of monetary and banking theory in the present domestic and international situation.
The Economics of Social Issues
This seminar is based on readings that set out hypotheses developed by economists and other social scientists regarding the causes and consequences of a wide range of social problems. Evidence examining the validity of these hypotheses is scrutinized and evaluated. The course is writing-intensive and interdisciplinary since readings are drawn from a wide variety of fields. Topics discussed include, but are not limited to, poverty, education, health, crime, race, ethnicity, immigration and fiscal matters.
Economics of War & Peace
In this course. we will look at the economic conditions and behaviors during periods of conflict. As such, the focus of the course is to develop a theoretical understanding of how human interaction can be modeled to study both peace and violent outcomes. To do so, we will view individuals' decision to be engaged in conflict as a rational choice. This viewpoint allows us to use economic principles to study individual behavior, design policies to alter those behaviors, and assess economic losses due to conflict. The topics covered in this class range from civil wars and genocide to international terrorism.
Game Theory
This course abandons the assumptions of perfect competition. Buyers and sellers may be few; information may be privately held; property rights may be poorly enforced; externalities abound and uncertainty is the rule. Game theory is a general framework for analyzing the messy world of strategic interactions. Standard solution concepts such as Nash Equilibrium, subgame perfection and Bayesian equilibrium are introduced in the context of a broad array of microeconomic topics. These include auctions, bargaining, oligopoly, labor market signaling, public finance and insurance.
Labor Economics
This course addresses how labor markets and institutions allocate labor and determine earnings and the distribution of income in the United States. Economic models are used to explain labor market outcomes generated by our economy. Where such outcomes are deemed less than socially optimal, these models are used to evaluate prospective and current labor market policies intended to address these shortcomings. Some attention is given to comparing American labor market outcomes with those in other developed countries.
Environmental/Natural Resource Economics
The course serves as an introduction to environmental and natural resource economics. Economic principles are used to evaluate public and private decision-making involving the management and use of environmental and natural resources. Aspects pertaining to fisheries, forests, species diversity, agriculture and various policies to reduce air, water and toxic pollution will be discussed. Lectures, reading assignments, discussions and exams will emphasize the use of microeconomic analysis for managing and dealing with environmental and natural resource problems and issues.
Meet Our Faculty
At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.
