Economics provides you with the knowledge and insight necessary to understand the impact of developments in business, society and the world economy. It enables you to understand the decisions of households, firms and governments based on human behaviour, beliefs, structure, constraints and need.
Economics is about choice and the impact of these choices on the structure and behaviour of society. It relates to every aspect of our daily lives from the decisions made by households (what goods and services to buy), firms (what goods and services to produce, how to produce them and in what quantities) and governments (decisions regarding investment, spending, trade, etc.).
Economics is relevant because it informs choices that have an impact on almost every aspect of your life. You make decisions based on the structures that are put in place by outside bodies - firms, governments and other consumers. Understanding the interaction and choices made by the different players in society helps you to understand why a society functions the way that it does. It also helps you to be able to compare the choices made by different households, firms and governments around the world where issues of desire, beliefs, scarcity, finance and spending result in very different economic systems.
No! The study of economics does help you to understand various aspects of finance but Economics is also about choice, scarcity, opportunity, and the impact of decision making on aspects of society.
The beauty of studying Economics is that you are given an insight into so many different subject areas. Economic issues are interrelated with the study of Business, Law, Accounting, Politics, Sociology, History, Land and Property Management, Engineering….the list is endless! Almost every subject area has to consider certain issues that are classed as 'Economics' to help students understand how and why decisions are made. For example in the study of Construction Management students need to understand why certain resources are used, how scarcity affects production decisions, and the costs and benefits to the consumer and producer of choosing one product over another. This is Economics!
Economics is becoming an increasingly popular subject amongst women, particularly now that students are being offered the chance to combine the study of Economics with subjects such as Law, Politics, Languages and Business.