Why Economics?
Economics is more than the study of money or the economy. It is a way of understanding how people, firms, governments and other organizations make choices, how those choices interact, and how data can be used to evaluate outcomes and make better decisions. An Economics major develops analytical frameworks, quantitative methods and system-level thinking rather than training students for a single corporate function.
Understand Markets
Understand incentives, constraints, competition, strategic interaction, and how markets and institutions work. Economics also asks how markets can be designed, from auctions and platforms to matching and regulation.
Analyze Data
Use econometrics, causal inference, data management and machine learning/AI to turn data into evidence: distinguishing correlation from causation, testing explanations and making predictions.
Make Better Decisions
Combine economic reasoning and evidence to evaluate choices facing businesses, governments, organizations and individuals, especially when resources are scarce, outcomes are uncertain and incentives matter.
A Distinctive, Transferable Toolkit
- A way of thinking, not a single trade. Economics provides a coherent framework for understanding choices, incentives, equilibrium and strategic interaction. These tools transfer across industries, occupations and changing technologies.
- Rigorous quantitative and empirical training. Students learn to formulate questions, work with data, evaluate competing explanations and draw credible conclusions using econometrics and modern computational tools.
- Broad career flexibility. Economics graduates are prepared for careers in consulting, finance, technology, data analytics, government, public policy and research, as well as graduate study in economics, business, law and related fields.
- Designed for a changing world. Rather than preparing students only for how a particular business function operates today, Economics develops analytical and quantitative tools that remain useful as industries, technologies and careers evolve.
The Ohio State Advantage
- Learn from active, leading researchers. The undergraduate major is taught almost exclusively by regular full-time professorial faculty across a wide range of fields.
- Build data- and AI-ready skills. The curriculum combines rigorous economic reasoning with quantitative methodology and systematic data analysis, including ECON 1101 (Using Big Data to Solve Economic and Social Problems), ECON 4410 (Data Management and Econometric Analysis) and ECON 5910 (Machine Learning and AI in Economics).
- Put economics into practice. Students can pursue undergraduate research, work as research assistants with faculty and graduate students, and connect classroom tools to real economic questions.
- Career and alumni connections. A dedicated career services coordinator, Economics Advisory Board mentors and undergraduate alumni programming help students explore careers, internships and professional networks.
Learn more about the Ohio State advantage
Economics and Business: Complementary but Distinct
Business programs emphasize expertise in particular organizational functions such as finance, marketing, accounting, management and operations. Economics emphasizes the underlying analytical framework: how incentives shape behavior, how markets and institutions generate outcomes, how data can identify what works, and how decision-makers can respond. Economics students therefore learn not only how organizations operate, but how to analyze the environment in which those organizations make decisions.