Why study economics?

12 August 2017

A career in Economics…it's much more than you think from American Economic Association on Vimeo.

Look at the American Economics Association’s website for what careers follow after an economics degree, career earnings, and more…

Or, check out this site sponsored by the Royal Economic Society. Here you will find, among many other things, what you can expect to earn (in the UK) with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics:

Most lucrative degrees, 10 years on (UK data):

Degree Women’s salaries Men’s salaries
Medicine £45,400 £55,300
Economics £38,200 £42,000
Engineering and technology £23,200 £31,200
Law £26,200 £30,100
Physical Sciences £24,800 £29,800
Education £24,400 £29,600
Architecture £22,500 £28,600
Maths and Computer science £22,000 £26,800
Business £22,000 £26,500
History and philosophy £23,200 £26,500
Social sciences £20,500 £26,200
Biological sciences £23,800 £25,200
European languages and literature £26,400 £25,000
Linguistics and classics £23,200 £24,100
Veterinary and agriculture £18,900 £21,400
Mass communication £18,100 £19,300
Creative arts £14,500 £17,900
Base: Median annual salary
Source: IFS and BBC
It is also interesting to note that it is estimated that around 12% of male economics graduates earned above £100,000 some ten years after graduation; by contrast, 6% of those studying medicine or law earned more than £100,000. In terms of females, it is estimated that around 9% of economics graduates earned above £100,000 some ten years after graduation; by contrast, just 1% of those studying medicine and 3% of those studying law did so (Institute for Fiscal Studies).
—Source: http://whystudyeconomics.ac.uk/after-you-graduate/how-much-more-will-you-earn-with-economics/

Degree	Women’s salaries	Men’s salaries
Medicine	£45,400	£55,300
Economics	£38,200	£42,000
Engineering and technology	£23,200	£31,200
Law	£26,200	£30,100
Physical Sciences	£24,800	£29,800
Education	£24,400	£29,600
Architecture	£22,500	£28,600
Maths and Computer science	£22,000	£26,800
Business	£22,000	£26,500
History and philosophy	£23,200	£26,500
Social sciences	£20,500	£26,200
Biological sciences	£23,800	£25,200
European languages and literature	£26,400	£25,000
Linguistics and classics	£23,200	£24,100
Veterinary and agriculture	£18,900	£21,400
Mass communication	£18,100	£19,300
Creative arts	£14,500	£17,900
Base: Median annual salary
Source: IFS and BBC

And a recent The Economist article shows that

Subjects which include some element of maths are well-rewarded. Our analysis finds that the five fields with the highest salaries are medicine, veterinary science, economics, engineering and mathematics.