Economics

Economics touches every part of our life. Our jobs and purchase, and investment decisions, our choice of where to live – all depend to economics. The economy – the system that we use to decide what to make and who gets what – represents a powerful force in our lives.

Economics is a social science. Like the other social sciences, such as psychology, it explains human behavior. Economics explains people’s behavior in the marketplace. Why do people buy what they buy? How do storekeepers decide what price to charge? Why can’t everyone have what they want? How do the owners of a business decide what to produce and how much to pay workers? What can the government do to help poor people become better off? Economics answers these questions, and answers most of them without mathematics.

The main players in the economy are consumers, businesses, the government, and exporters and importers. There is one fundamental principle guiding life on earth: it’s scarcity.

There are simply aren’t enough luxury cars, and seat at the theater for everyone who wants one! And besides, there isn’t enough food, clothing, and medical care for everyone who needs it.

The entire discipline of economics arises from a scarcity of goods and services in comparison with human wants and needs. If there is not enough of something for everyone who wants or needs it, society faces a serious problem: How do we decide who gets that something and who goes without it? Economics is the study, description and analysis of the ways in which societies produce and distribute goods and services.

Date: 2014-12-21; view: 1264