Economics Definition

'Pre-requisites'

In our lesson today, we begin by define the subeject of econpomics.

Lesson

The English term ‘Economics’ is derived from the Greek word ‘Oikonomia’. Its meaning is ‘household management’. Economics was first read in ancient Greece. Aristotle, the Greek Philosopher termed Economics as a science of ‘household management’. But with the change of time and progress of civilization, the economic condition of man changes. As a result, an evolutionary change in the definition of Economics is noticed. Towards the end of the eighteenth century Adam Smith, the celebrated English Economist and the father of Economics, termed Economics as the ‘Science of Wealth’. According to him, “Economics is a science that enquires into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations”. In other words, how wealth is produced and how it is used, are the subject-matter of economics. In the subsequent period Alfred Marshall defined Economics by saying, ‘Economics is a study mankind in the ordinary business of life’. In other words, according to Marshall, Economics studies not only the wealth but also the activities centering the wealth. In modern times more realistic definitions have been given to economics. In social life human wants are unlimited, but the means to satisfy those wants are scarce. Economics studies how to use the limited resources to satisfy the unlimited wants of men. In the words of Lionel Robins, the modern economist, ‘Economics is a science which studies human behavior as relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternatives uses’. So, Economics as a social science studies how people perform economic activities and how they try to satisfy unlimited wants by the proper use of limited resources. Economics is the study of how societies use scarce resources to produce valuable commodities and distribute them among different people.

'Activity'

Now write short notes on micro- and macro-economics.

'Assessment'

'References'