10 definitions of economics

Answer 1

1. Adam Smith's Definition

Adam Smith, considered to be the founding father of modern Economics, defined Economics as

the study of the nature and causes of nations' wealth or simply as the study of wealth.

The central point in Smith's definition is wealth creation. Implicitly, Smith identified

wealth with welfare. He assumed that, the wealthier a nation becomes the happier are its

citizens. Thus, it is important to find out, how a nation can be wealthy. Economics is the

subject that tells us how to make a nation wealthy. Adam Smith's definition is a wealth-centred

definition of Economics.

2. Alfred Marshall's Definition

Alfred Marshall also stressed the importance of wealth. But he also emphasised the role of the

individual in the creation and the use of wealth. He wrote: "Economics is a study of man in

the ordinary business of life. It enquires how he gets his income and how he uses it. Thus, it is

on the one side, the study of wealth and on the other and more important side, a part of the

study of man". Marshall, therefore, stressed the supreme importance of man in the economic

system. Marshall's definition is considered to be material-welfare centred definition of

Economics.

3. Lionel Robbins' Definition

The next important definition of Economics was due to Prof. Lionel Robbins. In his book

'Essays on the Nature and Significance of the Economic Science', published in 1932, Robbins gave a

definition which has become one of the most popular definitions of Economics. According to

Robbins, "Economics is a science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between

ends and scarce means which have alternative uses". A long line of economists after Robbins,

including Scitovsky and Cassel agreed with this definition and carried on their analysis in

line with this definition. It is a scarcity-based definition of Economics.

4. Modern Growth-Oriented Definition of Samuelson

In relatively recent times, more comprehensive definitions of Economics have been offered.

Thus, Professor Samuelson writes, "Economics is the study of how people and society end up

choosing, with or without the use of money, to employ scarce productive resources that could

have alternative uses to produce various commodities over time and distributing them for

consumption, now or in the future, among various persons or groups in society. It analyses

costs and benefits of improving patterns of resource allocation". A large number of modern

economists subscribe to this broad definition of Economics.

5. Gary Becker, a contributor to the expansion of economics into new areas, describes the approach he favors as "combin[ing the] assumptions of maximizing behavior, stable preferences, and market equilibrium, used relentlessly and unflinchingly."[23] One commentary characterizes the remark as making economics an approach rather than a subject matter but with great specificity as to the "choice process and the type of social interaction that [such] analysis involves." The same source reviews a range of definitions included in principles of economics textbooks and concludes that the lack of agreement need not affect the subject-matter that the texts treat. Among economists more generally, it argues that a particular definition presented may reflect the direction toward which the author believes economics is evolving, or should evolve.[24]

6. J.-B. Say (1803), distinguishing the subject from its public-policy uses, defines it as the science of production, distribution, and consumption of wealth.

7. Stuart Mill (1844) defines the subject in a social context as: The science which traces the laws of such of the phenomena of society as arise from the combined operations of mankind for the production of wealth, in so far as those phenomena are not modified by the pursuit of any other object.[16]

8. According to Harper (2001), Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomia, "management of a household, administration") from οἶκος (oikos, "house") + νόμος (nomos, "custom" or "law"), hence "rules of the house(hold)".Current economic models emerged from the broader field of political economy in the late 19th century. A primary stimulus for the development of modern economics was the desire to use an empirical approach more akin to the physical sciences. (Clark, 1998).

9. Rutherford, (1996) opined that economics is a Study of the economy. Classic economics concentrates on how the forces of supply and demand allocate scarce product and service resources. Macroeconomics studies a nation or the world's economy as a whole, using data about inflation, unemployment and industrial production to understand the past and predict the future. Microeconomics studies the behavior of specific sectors of the economy, such as companies, industries, or households. Over the years, various schools of economic thought have gained prominence, including Keynesian Economics, Monetarism and Supply-Side Economics.

10. Mark Blaug (2007) defines economics is the branch of social science that deals with the production and distribution and consumption of goods and services and their management.

Economics therefore is the social science that examines how people choose to use limited or scarce resources in attempting to satisfy their unlimited wants. It also studies how the forces of supply and demand allocate scarce resources