Jesus and Mary College - New Delhi

Why study Economics?

Economics is the study of how societies, governments, businesses, households, and individuals allocate their scarce resources. Our discipline has two important features. First, we develop conceptual models of behaviour to predict responses to changes in policy and market conditions. Second, we use rigorous statistical analysis to investigate these changes.

Economists are well known for advising the government on economic issues, formulating policies at the Reserve Bank of India, and analyzing economic conditions for investment banks, brokerage houses, real estate companies, and other private sector businesses. They also contribute to the development of many other public policies including health care, welfare, and social reform and efforts to reduce inequality, pollution and crime.

The study of economics can also provide valuable knowledge for making decisions in everyday life. It offers a tool with which to approach questions about the desirability of a particular financial investment opportunity, whether or not to attend college, the benefits and costs of alternative careers, and the likely impacts of public policies including universal education and a higher minimum wage.

Economics at JMC

The Department offers Honours course in Economics and Generic Elective courses to students of other Departments as well.

The Economics Department of JMC was set up in 1969. It has grown in strength over the years and its faculty comprises of highly committed and dynamic members with specializations and interests in diverse fields. The students in the Economics department are a vibrant and bright lot. The teachers and students share a warm, stimulating relationship in which the lines between the knowledge taker and giver are sometimes blurred.

The Department makes a constant effort to encourage students to be creative thinkers who can offer innovative solutions to problems arising in the community. In this direction, the Department organizes collaborative seminars, presentations and workshops by eminent speakers and experts from diverse fields. In recent years, experts like Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Prof. Jayati Ghosh, Prof. Utsa Patnaik, Prof. C. P. Chandrasekhar, Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Jairam Ramesh and many more have visited the department providing insights on various Economic issues.

The Department organizes an annual fest, EcoVantage, which gives an opportunity to all the aspiring Economists to enhance their pioneering ideas through interactions and debates with some of the most prestigious personalities from the field of Economics. The fest encompasses Panel Discussions, Paper Presentations, International Trade game and a plethora of fun and intellectual events drawing an overwhelming response each year.

The Economics Department also brings forth an annual magazine: The Contrarian. The magazine was started in 2015, with a view to oppose silence and advocates voicing opinions even if it challenges established beliefs. It is an attempt to go contrary to the image of Economics being a ‘dismal science’.

Over the years a large number of our graduates have opted for higher education from prestigious institutions like Delhi School of Economics, Indian Statistical Institute, Jawaharlal Nehru University, IIMs, ISB, IIFT, in India. Our students have also been accepted into some of the best education institutions in the world: University of Warwick, London School of Economics, Oxford University to name a few. Additionally, students have been placed in various think tanks, consulting firms and Government organisations. Several students are in the bureaucracy having joined the IAS and IES.

All Departmental activities are focussed towards stimulating students to use the tools acquired during the lectures to evaluate economic issues and in general provide intellectual leadership to the Economics profession. The Department is strongly committed to imparting education that produces socially responsible, disciplined and sensitive citizens.