Introduction to Economics

Definition

If you are going to study Economics, the first thing that you will need is a good explanation of exactly what Economics is all about!

The dictionary defines Economics in the following way:

Economics – noun [Pronunciation Key: ek-uh-nom-iks, or ee-kuh-nom-iks]

1. (used with a singular verb) the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind.
2. (used with a plural verb) financial considerations; economically significant aspects: What are the economics of such a project?

A social science is a bit different from a subject like Biology, Physics or Chemistry. In those subjects, experiments can (and should) be repeated to test their validity. After that, you can make predictions about exactly what will happen if the test is repeated. In Economics we are looking at the way people react in certain situations, and the choices that they make. No two people will react to a situation in the same way, and so tests are not repeatable. This doesn’t mean that the tests are invalid, it just means that with a large enough sample size we can work out the probability of a certain reaction, rather than exactly what will happen.

The rest of the first definition goes on to explain the general topics that you will look at in Economics over the next two years. In very general terms, we can say that Economics is the study of the way in which consumers, producers, the government and the external sector interact to generate production and employment. These activities will have broad consequences, and so our study will widen to examine what these things might be.

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