经济学是关于人和机构如何选择使用社会稀缺资源的科学研究。它是一门广泛的社会科学，与行为科学（例如社会学和心理学）和决策科学（例如金融和管理）都具有共同的利益。经济分析的重要性被承认是唯一获得诺贝尔奖的社会科学。经济学专业的学生接受了适用于家庭，企业和政府的经济分析方法和使用方面的培训。
Economics is the scientific study of how people and institutions make choices concerning the use of society’s scarce resources. It is a broad social science that shares common interests with both the behavioral sciences (i.e. sociology and psychology) and the decision sciences (i.e. finance and management). The importance of economic analysis is recognized by being the only social science in which a Nobel Prize is awarded. Economics students receive training in the methods and uses of economic analysis as applied to households, businesses, and governments.An economics major or minor helps prepare the student for graduate professional training in business, public administration and law. The flexibility of the economics major is reflected in relatively high starting salaries and lifetime earnings of economists.