Economics
comes from two Greek words Oikos and Nomos, Oikos means house and Nomos means
rule or principle. Economics has primarily been concerned with the income
getting and income spending activities of the household.
Modern
economics emerged from the broader field of political economy in the late 19th
century.
These
Renowned Personalities of Economics, who really found the basis for the studies
of Economics. As we know, that the early Economics is primarily been
concerned with the income getting and income spending activities of the
households.
Sir
Adam Smith is considered as the father of modern economics, (1723-1790)
was a Scottish philosopher and economist. He is the author of "An Inquiry
into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). He explained
economics as study of wealth, as “Wealth definition”
Sir
Alfred Marshal introduced “welfare definition” for the study of economics
(1842 - 1924). His book, Principles of Economics (1890), was the
leading economic textbook for many years. His thoughts of supply and demand,
marginal utility analysis, and cost concepts were detailed in this book. He is
recognized as one of the founders of economics
Sir
Lionel Robinson was the head of the economics department at the London School
of Economics.(1898 –1984) He is known for his definition of economics. In his
essay on the nature of economics, he defined economics as “the science which
studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which
have alternative uses”
According
to Sir Lionel Robinson, the "Scarcity definition of Economics" states
that, Economics is “the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship
between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses” In the definition
"ends" means unlimited human wants, aim or objective and the
"scarce means" refers to limited resources, way or methods.
So
we conclude that, Economics as a science, enable us to make use of the
scarce resources in such a way so as to make maximum satisfaction for our
unlimited wants.
Economic
Concepts
Economics aims to explain how economies work and how economic agents
interact. Economic analysis
is applied not only in society, business, finance and government, but also in
crime, education, the family, health, law, politics, religion, social
institutions, war, and science. Common
distinctions are drawn between various dimensions of economics.
The
primary distinction is between microeconomics, which examines the behavior of basic elements in
the economy, including individual markets and agents (such as consumers and
firms, buyers and sellers), and macroeconomics,
which deals with the issues affecting an entire economy, including
unemployment, inflation, economic growth, and monetary and fiscal policy.
Other
distinctions are between positive
economics describing "what is" and normative economics advocating "what ought to be".
Another
division is between economic theory
deals with theories of economics and applied
economics deals with its application in activities thereof.
Yet
another classification is between mainstream
economics which is more "orthodox"; dealing with the
"rationality-individualism-equilibrium nexus" and heterodox economics more
"radical" dealing with the "institutions-history-social
structure nexus"; and between rational and behavioral economics.
Back to Home Page Click here