Economics logo

the study of
the allocation of scarce resources
used to satisfy
our wants and needs

This stone was used as money in the Yap Islands of Micronesia.

 

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Economics

Douglas Dalenberg, Professor & Chair

Welcome to The Department of Economics website at The University of Montana.

Economics has been called “The King of the Social Sciences” and “The Dismal Science” (and some claim our Department strives for both).  Throughout history there has been little middle ground – people are either drawn to the study of economics or repelled by it;  however, many people are surprised to find that economics isn’t about making money and isn’t likely to make you rich.  As Professor Emeritus Thomas Power describes it,

Economics is a challenging major because it combines several disparate skills.  One needs to be able to think logically and critically, write clearly, argue well and be comfortable applying mathematics.  In addition, one needs to be equally proficient with theory, real world applications and applied statistics. 

I invite you to explore our website and see if the classes we teach and research we do appeals to you.  If you would like to know more about economics there are a lot of good books out there such as Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s  Freakonomics, Thomas M. Power and Richard Barrett's Post-Cowboy Economics and Tim Harford’s The Undercover Economist.  There is a great wealth of material on the internet as well.  To get you started I would point you to Resources for Economists,  The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel aka The Nobel Prize in Economics and Project Syndicate for a wide range of political and economic opinion.  For a lighter view, check out this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/.

Douglas Dalenberg
Professor & Chair
Department of Economics