'The course offers an introduction to economic theory. However, given the interdisciplinary nature of the programme, we will also look at aspects of politics, law and psychology related to economics. I will discuss how laws and government policies, like the regulation of markets, influence economies. How do governments regulate monopolies, for example? When it comes to psychological aspects, we will deal with questions such as how bad news affects the psychology of agents in an economy, and how their state of mind in turn affects the economy. The virtue of this course is that it combines all the other disciplines and puts them into economics, thus giving students a full view of how an economy works.'

Dr Mavromatis received both his MSc and his PhD in Economics from the University of Warwick in the UK.  'If I were 18 now, I would certainly be interested in a programme like Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics. The programme offers students broad knowledge in the social sciences: It is undoubtedly an asset for a future decision maker to be able to understand a society from various angles. I have seen students who graduated from similar programmes in the UK excel at subsequent Master's studies, because they do not just see one side of the coin and they have all the tools to follow the path that is best for them. Moreover, after they graduate, they are better professionals, because they are able to talk with other professionals from a variety of backgrounds.'

'I have discussed the contents of this course with my colleagues from the other disciplines. It turns out the courses are naturally interrelated. The course in Decision Making, for example, has very close ties to Economics, Markets and Organisations, but the latter has a more economic flavour. And the importance of laws and policies in markets is clear. Students who choose the specialisation in economics from the second year on, will have a background that is very close to a programme purely focused on economics. Yet they will gain a view more suited to policy makers, because other aspects than just the mechanics of an economy are fundamental to good policy for society as a whole as well.'