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Economics is a fascinating and challenging social science that deals with such issues as resource allocation, the efficiency of economic actors, inflation, unemployment, discrimination, economic growth, pollution and poverty.

These problems affect us as members of society concerned with how our economic system functions and as individuals concerned about our own jobs, wages, taxes and the cost of living. Economics is about choice - how to make rational choices between competing uses of scarce resources in light of social and personal values and needs. One of the main reasons to study economics is that it develops a method of thinking and analysis that can be applied to a variety of different fields. Majors in economics are offered courses leading to the BBA in the College of Business and Economics, the BA and BS in the College of Letters and Sciences, and the BS in the College of Education.

The Department provides majors with courses in a variety of areas to allow students to choose among various career objectives and also prepare them for admission to graduate school in economics, law, business administration, public administration, and other disciplines. The program provides a strong functional emphasis with a variety of concentrations within economics - money and banking, public finance, international trade and finance, economic development, quantitative economics, labor economics, transportation, regional/urban economics, managerial economics, comparative economic systems, and industrial organization.

The Center for Economic Education is housed in the Economics Department. Its mission is to help elementary, middle school, and secondary teachers. The Center provides the UW-Whitewater region with "in-service" and "credit" courses in economic education.