Prior to applying for a place in the Economics and Philosophy programme at the LSE a few questions kept on ringing in my head. One was whether taking up an interdisciplinary course was better than focusing on one subject. The other was whether the course would help my future career – be it in further academic research or not – as well as, say, a straight degree in economics. Looking back at it now I would have not made a different choice and highly recommend this course to anyone considering it.

Combining the study of two separate subjects is definitely a challenge, but the fruits are worth it. This programme is ideal for someone looking for a mix of mathematical approach to the study of economics and a philosophical analysis of the methodology of social sciences as well as a critical evaluation of the foundations and axioms on which economic theory rests.

The two seemingly distinct subjects complement each other very well. The philosophical part of the course analyses a number of interesting and important questions that are mentioned but not discussed in great detail as part of the microeconomics programme. Conversely, the mathematical side of economics helps greatly in tackling some of the more technical texts written by philosophers and decision theorists in this interdisciplinary field.

There is ample space, through selection of subjects, to gear this course in a number of different ways. In the case of my personal experience, it sparked my interest in and prepared me well for further study of decision and game theory from both economic and philosophical perspectives. Having graduated from this programme I spent two years working in the finance sector for a financial data and analytics software company FactSet across the Middle East, India and Africa. After this I enrolled in a PhD programme (at King’s College London) for further research in philosophy with a focus on decision and game theory.