Economics is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
The term economics comes from the Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomía, “management of a household, administration”) and λόγος (logos, “speech” or “reason”). It has been used in different ways at different times. An early use was by Aristotle in The Politics: “…of households there are four kinds: first, those which are managed according to mere expediency; these are everywhere found among tradesmen and husbandmen; secondly, those which aim solely at pleasure …; thirdly, those which aim chiefly at reputation… ; fourthly, those which are well-managed with a view to all three objects.” In modern English usage, however, it has come to have a more specific meaning.
Alfred Marshall defined it as “the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.” Lionel Robbins developed this further as “the science of choice”: individuals make choices because they would like their circumstances to be different from what they actually are. Economics focuses on measurable variables such as GDP growth rates or inflation. However, some economists argue that non-measurable factors such as happiness can also be studied under the umbrella of economics.
Microeconomics analyzes basic elements in the economy including market demand and supply for goods and services, determination of price levels,, interaction of firms in monopoly and oligopoly,, effects of fiscal policies on economic activity,, international trade Macroeconomics considers aggregated indicators such as GDP , unemployment rates , national income , capacity utilization etc., And looks into how these change over time & what causes these changes .. Both micro- & macroeconomic theories date back to Keynesianism, monetarism & classical economics . Other important streams include new classical macroeconomics , Marxian economics , Austrian School , feminist economics & heterodox economics .