Economics and Politics

Economics and politics is a degree built on the recognition that economic decisions are always also political ones. Taxation, trade policy, welfare spending, financial regulation and the management of inequality are not purely technical questions for economists to answer; they are deeply contested choices that reflect different values, interests and distributions of power. Studying economics and politics together allows you to understand both the analytical tools that economists use to model these choices and the political processes through which they are actually made, giving you a more complete picture of how societies work than either discipline provides alone.

At the University of York this three-year programme develops your understanding of microeconomics, macroeconomics and quantitative methods alongside political theory, comparative politics, international political economy and public policy. You will engage with the intersections between the two disciplines, examining how economic structures shape political outcomes and how political decisions shape economic ones. A sandwich year, work placements and a year abroad are built into the programme, providing professional experience and international perspective at different stages.

The combination of analytical rigour from economics and the broader contextual understanding from politics develops graduates who are well equipped to work in roles that sit at the boundary between these fields.

Graduates work in economic consultancy, central banking, government economic departments, the civil service, international organisations, think tanks and policy research. Financial services, journalism and public affairs also recruit from this combination, and the breadth of the joint degree means graduates can move between economic and political contexts as their careers develop. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in economics, public policy, international political economy or related fields, using the combination of technical and analytical training as a foundation for specialist work.