Economics provides a marketable minor that complements many other fields. For example, economics overlaps with every other social science. Daniel Kahneman, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics holds a joint appointment in economics and psychology at Princeton University. Elinor Ostrom (2009 Nobel Prize) taught political science at Indiana University, Gary Becker (1992 Nobel Prize) held professorships in both economics and sociology at the University of Chicago and economist Thomas Schelling (2005 Nobel Prize) also taught foreign affairs at the University of Maryland. Because economic forces drive many political, social, legal and historical trends, top journalists and broadcasters find that a solid knowledge of economic concepts is an essential tool in their professions.
Are you majoring in math or the sciences? Economic theories of market competition share much with ideas from evolutionary biology and neuroeconomists look at brain activity patterns to study how people make decisions. Economists build mathematical models of behavior and use heavy doses of statistical theory to test them. Mathematicians and scientists have made many important contributions to economic theory. Among the more famous have been computer scientist and artificial intelligence pioneer Herbert Simon (1978 Nobel Prize in Economics) and Princeton mathematician John Nash -- made famous by the movie A Beautiful Mind (1994 Nobel Price in Economics).
Even the fine arts interact with economics. Research published in a recent volume of the Journal of Cultural Economics includes articles entitled, "The Evolution of Free-Lance Music Composition," "The Law and Economics of Artists' Inalienable Rights," and "Quality Judgments and the Demand for French Public Theater."
Skills learned in economics can enhance a variety of degrees, extend your job opportunities
and give you an additional edge in the workplace.
