都柏林圣三一學院

What is Economics?

Any society has to address the problem of how and what to produce for its material survival, and how the goods and services that are produced should be distributed among its population. Economists explore how people and institutions behave and function when producing, exchanging and using goods and services. Economists’ main motivation is to find mechanisms that encourage efficiency in the production and use of material goods and resources, while at the same time producing a pattern of income distribution that society finds acceptable.

Economics: The course for you?

Economics will appeal to students with a wide range of interests. If you are interested in current economic affairs or in understanding how public policies could lower unemployment or assist the developing world, then you will find studying economics both stimulating and rewarding. Economics is also a strong platform for careers in business and finance. Students who enjoy abstract thinking, and are evaluating courses such as engineering or physics, should also consider economics as a degree option.

Economics @ Trinity

In the 2018 QS rankings Trinity was ranked in the top 150 universities in the world for Economics and Econometrics.

The Department places considerable emphasis on providing a supportive and stimulating teaching environment for all students. In addition to lectures, which are given by highly qualified academic staff with an international reputation, the Department facilitates learning through interested approachable staff, small tutorial groups, student presentations and involvement, teaching assistants assigned to many modules, time set aside each week by all staff and teaching assistants to deal with any student difficulties on a one-to-one basis and involvement in societies and debates and in the publication of the ‘Student Economic Review’, allowing students to gain valuable experience.

Graduate skills and career opportunities

Economics students develop exceptional logical reasoning and analytical skills which are highly sought after by employers in a range of fields including business, finance, journalism, law, politics, the public service and academia.

The following are just a few examples of the diverse organisations where Economics graduates work:

Dublin Web Summit, Abbott, Goldman Sachs, Google, Credit Suisse, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Accenture, Morgan Stanley, Irish Life, Wolfhound Press, Maersk, Central Bank of Ireland, KPMG.

About a third of Economics graduates go on to postgraduate study, both at Trinity and at other leading universities around the world such as Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge and the London School of Economics.

Your degree and what you’ll study

In the first two years, teaching emphasises the understanding of the basic principles of economics and the acquisition of the quantitative and analytical skills necessary for more in-depth study. The student will also receive instruction on how the modern economy works both from an Irish and a global perspective. In third and fourth year, there are very few compulsory modules. Students are therefore able to construct their own programme from a wide range of options.

All modules in the first three years are assessed by a combination of continuous assessment (tests or essays) and the formal end-of-semester examinations. Fewer modules are required in the fourth and final year so as to facilitate time for more independent work. Project work is a very important component of almost all modules within the final year; this project work allows students to achieve a very high level of expertise in a number of specific areas and is very beneficial to students when setting out on their career paths. In addition, students specialising exclusively in economics in fourth year complete a Capstone project on a chosen topic.