Faculty of Economics: Our Distinctive View
In most universities, learning economics generally involves the study of the economic activities of the nation (macroeconomics) and individuals (microeconomics) and include also the study of other relevant disciplines such as finance, banking, investment and international trade, among others.
At the Faculty of Economics, Rangsit University, we have a view that economics is the study of how people behave with regard to consumption, production, exchange (trade) and finance. All these activities are driven by the state, business entity and people in general. This is the standard approach of economic study that is practiced by most universities, which focus mainly on learning the role of private sector and public sector.
At the Faculty of Economics, Rangsit University, we also follow the standard approach of teaching economics as so mentioned. But more to that, we introduce the study of the role of the “People Sector”, or “Third Sector”, and emphasize on “Political Economy” framework to explain the interaction between wealth and power which is evidenced in various situations. It is generally the case, as is obviously seen in daily life, that the rich people will use their wealth to seek more power and those with state power will want to use power to accumulate wealth.
As we are approaching the modern digital age, we will see increasing significance of digital economy, or the economic system driven by digital technology. , Realizing this, our Faculty has opened the Digital Economy programs for both Bachelor Degree and Master Degree. As for Doctoral level, we have also offered a Doctorate Program in International Political Economy and Development (IPED), being established as a first of a kind in Thailand.
This program is aimed to develop the body of knowledge to find the way to solve the current world-wide problems such as trade war, ideology warfare, information warfare, war to take the lead, technology warfare, money warfare, and so on. The super-power countries like the U.S., China, Russia, and Europe are all engaged in these kinds of wars which may send an impact across the globe. These problems can be analyzed fruitfully in depth using IPED framework. It is imperative that the policy makers learn to understand the problems well enough in order to be able to manage and maintain the nation in sound and competitive conditions in this turbulent world that we are confronting.