What is Economics?
Economics is the study of human energy—how we organize our efforts to get what we want. Market exchange plays a central role in this process, but processes of conflict and coordination that take place outside of markets are also important.
2025 Philip Gamble Memorial Lecture - April 3, 2025, 5:00pm Bowker Auditorium
Join us for the 2025 Philip Gamble Memorial Lecture:
Understanding Minimum Wage and Immigration Policies: Cause and Effect and Evidence-Based Approaches
Featuring labor economist David Card, Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Card won the 2021 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for work
that challenged orthodoxy and dramatically shifted understanding of inequality and the social and economic forces that impact low-wage workers. His research focuses on topics such as immigration, minimum wage, and inequality.
April 3, 2025, 5:00pm Bowker Auditorium and Livestream: www.youtube.com/c/UMassEconomics/live
The Bachelor of Arts in Economics is now designated as a STEM degree for the purposes of Optional Practical Training (OPT) and the STEM extension for international students on a visa.
The Bachelor of Arts in Economics is now designated as a STEM degree for the purposes of Optional Practical Training (OPT) and the STEM extension for international students on a visa.
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Statement on Racist Violence and Social Exclusion
Black Lives Matter. We declare and affirm this truth in the face of any verbal or material attempt to deny it. The current tragedies and structures of violence, exclusion and exploitation of Black people were made by human actors. They date back to colonial times and slavery but persist to today. Teaching and research in the economics profession have often served to legitimize such structures portraying them as the outcome of the free and fair play of the market. The UMass Economics Department has a long tradition of research dedicated to uncovering structures of oppression, exploitation, exclusion and violence. This tradition must be rethought and adapted to place racial injustice at the center, as a dimension that should not be overlooked.