Information for Prospective Students
There are five undergraduate joint degree courses that include economics. See the Degree Programmes page for a brief outline of each course, and University of Oxford Undergraduate Admissions for the University Prospectus, which contains more information about courses and full details of how to apply.
Information and Reading Suggestions for Students interested in Studying Economics at Oxford
We do not expect applicants for PPE, Economics and Management, or any other course involving economics to have studied economics at school – although some applicants will have done so. Before deciding to apply for a degree that includes economics, you should try to find out as much as you can about the subject and whether it will interest you.
It should be emphasised that the suggestions below are not required reading, or recommended by the economics department; they are just possible starting points for finding out more about the subject of economics. If you apply to Oxford, tutors will not expect you to have read any particular books.
A good starting point is a website aimed at potential economics students, created by the Economics Network and the Royal Economic Society:
You can find plenty of coverage of economic questions in good quality newspapers, magazines, blogs and articles online, and television and radio programmes. For example, try the Financial Times, The Economist, and Prospect, which frequently include articles on economic matters; and the blogs and commentaries of economists and economic journalists such as:
- Paul Krugman: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/
- Greg Mankiw: http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/
- Martin Wolf: http://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/martinwolf
- Stephanie Flanders: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/stephanieflanders/
- Tim Harford: http://timharford.com/
- David Smith: http://www.economicsuk.com/blog/
There are several good “popular” introductions to economics, and other relevant books written for a general audience, that are accessible and interesting whether or not you have studied economics at school:
Tim Harford The Undercover Economist (Little, Brown, 2005)
David Smith Free Lunch: Easily Digestible Economics (Profile Books, 2003)
Paul Krugman The Accidental Theorist (Norton, 1998)
K. Binmore A Very Short Introduction to Game Theory (OUP, 2007)
P. Dasgupta Economics: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2007)
Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot The Tiger that Isn’t: Seeing through a World of Numbers (Profile Books, 2007)
Roger E. Backhouse The Penguin History of Economics (Penguin, 2002)