Welcome to the School of Economics

Message from Head of School of Economics

Welcome to the School of Economics’ homepage. This message is especially for prospective students who have not had any exposure to Economics before and who want to know more about the discipline, why it is important and what can be done with it.

Economics forms the foundation of any commerce-related degree at university, not only at UCT, but at universities around the world. Economics has many dimensions. At a macro level we ask the following type of questions: Why are some countries poor and others rich? How do countries develop over time? What is the role of government in the economy? What causes recessions and booms? What determines changes in the inflation rate, the exchange rate and the economic growth rate? Is there a relationship between inflation and unemployment and what is the nature of that relationship? At a microeconomic level we ask why some industries are dominated by one or two large companies (e.g. beer production) while others are characterised by a large number of small firms (e.g. furniture producers and building contractors). What determines people’s decisions to work in a particular field? What monetary benefit do people get from additional studies or work experience?

In the same way that people that study mathematics, even at an advanced level, do not become mathematicians, most students that study Economics do not become economists. While some firms employ people in the function of Economist, most firms employ people with a good economic understanding. A person trained in economics has a certain set of skills that can be applied in a variety of different situations. These skills include the following: looking at a problem in a structured and logical way; being able to understand the essence rather than the technicalities of the problem; understanding that there may be multiple solutions to the problem; understanding that there may be detrimental unintended consequences to certain well-meaning policies; and understanding opportunity cost, i.e. that any decision has a cost in some form or another.

UCT B.Com. and B.Bus.Sc. degrees are very well regarded in both the private and public sectors in South Africa and worldwide. Despite the financial crisis and the economic slowdown a sizeable number of UCT graduates with postgraduate degrees in Economics have found excellent employment opportunities in the financial sector in London. Many graduates have found work in commercial banks, the South African Reserve Bank, asset management companies, consulting firms like KPMG, McKinsey’s and Genesis Analytics, various industries, etc. Many graduates have been employed in a variety of government departments and provincial and local government. Some have been employed as researchers. In this regard, UCT’s School of Economics has a number of affiliated research units that do cutting-edge research in fields ranging from environmental policy to poverty alleviation and development policy.

Many of UCT’s postgraduate students have been accepted into top US and European universities for PhD studies. UCT, more than any other South African university, prepares students for the rigours of such advanced studies. The economics courses that we teach are more analytical and mathematical than in other South African universities. UCT sets a relatively high requirement on matric maths ability, and for good reason, because the mathematical requirements at UCT are high.

Kind regards

Corne van Walbeek Head of Department, School of Economics, University of Cape Town

Downloads

Below are a few files available for download that contain some interesting information regarding Economics and the School of Economics in general:

• Economics Myths - Click here (.PPT) (2.4 MB) (30/05/2007)
• Example of a Lecturer - Click here (.PPT) (322.5 KB) (30/05/2007)
• Student Experiences - Click here (.PPT) (1 MB) (30/05/2007)
• Student Opinions - Click here (.PPT) (1.8 MB) (30/05/2007)