Introduction
A lot of statements have been said
about economics as a subject. The
following are some of the
statements.
, Cont….
• ‘Economics is the painful elaboration of
the obvious.’
• ‘Economics is everything we know in a
language we don’t understand’
• A Swedish contribution: "Economics is like red
whine - you shouldn't smell it but drink it, but
if you drink too much on one occasion, there is
a risk for dizziness"
, Defining economics
• It is quite difficult to define economics as such.
• According to one standard definition,
economics is concerned with the way in which
resources are allocated among alternative
uses to satisfy human wants.
• Economics therefore can be defined as a
social science that studies how society
allocates its scarce resources amongst
competing alternatives.
, Cont….
• From the above definition, economics is
described as a 'social science'. 'Social' in
that the subject matter is the human being.
• 'Science' because the approach used has
much in common with that of the natural
sciences because economics use scientific
methodologies in its formulation of
policies.
A lot of statements have been said
about economics as a subject. The
following are some of the
statements.
, Cont….
• ‘Economics is the painful elaboration of
the obvious.’
• ‘Economics is everything we know in a
language we don’t understand’
• A Swedish contribution: "Economics is like red
whine - you shouldn't smell it but drink it, but
if you drink too much on one occasion, there is
a risk for dizziness"
, Defining economics
• It is quite difficult to define economics as such.
• According to one standard definition,
economics is concerned with the way in which
resources are allocated among alternative
uses to satisfy human wants.
• Economics therefore can be defined as a
social science that studies how society
allocates its scarce resources amongst
competing alternatives.
, Cont….
• From the above definition, economics is
described as a 'social science'. 'Social' in
that the subject matter is the human being.
• 'Science' because the approach used has
much in common with that of the natural
sciences because economics use scientific
methodologies in its formulation of
policies.
