What is economics?
Economics is the social science concerned with how individuals, societies, and countries make choices under conditions of scarcity. It examines how resources are allocated, produced, distributed, and consumed. In essence, economics explores the intricate dance between limited resources and human wants and needs.
What are main features of economics?
- Scarcity and Choice: This core principle underpins everything in economics. Since resources are limited (scarce), individuals, firms, and societies must make choices about how to allocate them.
- Supply and Demand: This framework explains how interactions between buyers (demand) and sellers (supply) determine market prices and quantities of goods and services traded.
- Market Structures: General economics analyzes different market structures (perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition) and their impact on pricing, competition, and resource allocation.
- Costs and Production: It examines the costs associated with production, including fixed costs, variable costs, and economies of scale, influencing firms' pricing and output decisions.