About
The GW Department of Economics is one of the university’s most popular academic programs, bringing together students from across the liberal arts, sciences, business and international affairs. The department cultivates a community of teachers and researchers who support students through interactive coursework, networking events and professional connections throughout the Washington, D.C., area.
Our faculty secure prestigious grants from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, U.S. Postal Service, Institute for New Economic Thinking, USAID and more. Alongside other scholars in the department’s Center for Economic Research, they publish books and articles in many fields, present at prominent conferences around the world and serve on the editorial boards of well-known academic journals.
Explore the Economics Department
What Economists Do
Economics is much more than the study of money. The field of economics investigates the consequences of scarcity — that is, how the lack of certain resources forces people, organizations and governments to choose among competing objectives. Economists look at these choices and how they affect the production of goods and services, market prices, national output, unemployment, inflation, economic growth and the use and distribution of resources within and across nations.
In our department, students learn to conduct this kind of analysis by mastering concepts in macroeconomics, microeconomics, international finance and development, labor economics, money and banking and the economics of government and public policy, among others.
"The faculty are not just full-time GW professors; they are experts in different fields. They work for the government and different organizations and institutions. So when they’re teaching, they also tell you what they’re doing in their work. You can really learn how to apply the serious in the practical world."
Biying Zhu
MA ’18, Applied Economics and Graduate Certificate in Data Science