In 1936, the eminent English economist, John Maynard Keynes, concluded his monumental work, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, by asserting that ". . . the ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Understanding "the ideas of economists" is a compelling reason for studying economics. Students who take courses offered by Dartmouth's Economics Department will be introduced to a way of looking at problems and asking questions that will be of lifetime value.
The overall curriculum is designed to help students analyze important social problems of current interest. Citizens are constantly confronting public policy issues that are essentially economic in character. In a democratic society, citizens' views, informed or otherwise, are important. Those individuals who do not understand economics are vulnerable to the special interest pleadings of those who do, on matters ranging from international trade policy to environmental protection and community development.
Increasingly, quantitative skills aid in the analysis and understanding of basic economic phenomena. As the field of economics has changed, the Dartmouth curriculum has changed accordingly. Undergraduates are exposed to an up-to-date array of course offerings that are intellectually
challenging and enhance students' chances for success at graduate schools, in business, and in professional work in economics. In addition to the standard major, the economics minor and the modified major are intended to fit the needs of students who have a definite interest in economics but are primarily interested in another discipline or, in the case of a modified major, wish to study some specific problem or topic that falls partly in the field of economics and partly in a related field, e.g., engineering science, mathematics, government or another social science. Students can also take advantage of a wide range of departmental research opportunities. The Honors Program in Economics, for example, gives students the opportunity to conduct independent research and write an honors thesis in the senior year.
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