One needs mathematics to do economics; parts of calculus and parts of linear algebra are our workhorses.

 

However, one doesn’t need advanced mathematics in the sense of a mathemetician to do serious economics. It has been said that the only truly advanced mathematics ever used by Nobel laureates in Economics has been in connection with general equilibrium theory [Eugene Silberberg, The Structure of Economics—A Mathematical Analysis, McGraw Hill, 2^nd ed., 1990]; at the opposite extreme, one of the laureates, Ronald Coase, illustrated his seminal ideas with nothing more abstract than arithmetic examples! 

 

More especially, concepts which we need every day, such as the partial derivative and constrained optimzation, mathematics departments might postpone until, say, a Calculus III course, but are actually easy to learn and easy to use. In like manner, we need some linear algebra, such as matrix operations, including inversion, especially for our Econometrics sequence, but we hardly need much.

 

To enter our program as a degree candidate we merely require Calculus I or two semesters of High School Calculus. Such a course covers noticeably less than a Calculus for Business, or Calculus for the Social Sciences course, and especilly our own Mathematical Methods for Economists [required only of those without any calculus], so these are more appropriate for our needs than is Calculus I. In turn, such courses might not contain all the mathematical material we use in the program. We adopt this approach because we believe that if you have learned at least Calculus I, you will be in a good position to learn additional mathematical material in various classes, or on your own, according to lectures or pointers given by your instructors, perhaps using textbook appendices or their own notes.

 

Inexpensive Calculus I courses are available at the USDA Graduate School and on-line. Better suited would be Introductory Calculus with Business Applications, available realtively inexpensively at the George Mason University Math Department. Even better would be Math for Econ I plus Math for Econ II at the USDA Graduate School, but these two courses have been scheduled months apart from each other, and Math for Econ I alone is not sufficient to meet our math entrance requirement. Check the schedule to be sure. Applied Calculus I and II are offered at various NOVA locations. Applied Calculus I is sufficient to fulfill the math entrance requirement to our program [check to see if offered online]. Additionally taking Applied Calculus II would almost cover our own Math Methods course, and thus is highly recommended as you begin your studies. Generally, courses called Applied Calculus are better suited to our purposes than those called Calculus I.

 

To support learning the math systematically, we encourage all our students to study

Carl P. Simon, Lawrence E. Blume, Mathematics for Economists, Norton, 1994. This text is highly recommended because it lies between “chatty” math books and "definition - operation - proof” math books. It can accompany you throughout your time at our program, and beyond. There is absolutely no need to learn even nearly the whole content of the book, and you can always use it as a reference. Buy used; save 50%. This is a small investment with big returns for half a lifetime or longer.
 

Alas, no one book is perfect: Simon and Blume are short on excercises, and one must do these to learn to use the math. Therefore, it is recommended that you purchase one of several low priced Schaum’s Outline Series books on the subject and do some of the excercises at your own pace, for example and especially Edward T. Dowling, Schaum's Outline of Mathematical Methods for Business and Economics, McGraw Hill, 1992. The table of contents of this book, skipping Chapters 7 and 8 on Linear Programming, gives a fair idea of the minimum math needed in our program.