Nature and Scope of Economics

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UNIT 1 Nature and Scope of Economics Copyright 1995 by Thames Management Centre International. All right reserved. No part of this lecture notes may be reproduced in any form or by any means, without the permission in writing from Thames. 1.1 What is Economics? Everywhere human beings are found to make efforts and earn money and then spend this money to satisfy their wants. Therefore, the activities concerning the earning and spending of wealth are studied under Economics. (Eco.) 2. Various Definitions of Economics i) Adam Smith : Economics is a study of “an enquiry into the nature and causes of wealth of nations.” ii) J.S. Mills : Economics is a study of “the practical science of the production and distribution of wealth.” iii) L. Robbins : Economics is a “science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between end and scarce means which have alternative uses.” iv) Richard Lipsey : Modern eco. concerns: - a) The allocation of a society’s resources among alternative uses and the distribution of the society’s output among individuals and group. b) The ways in which production and distribution changes over time. c) The efficient and inefficiencies of economic systems. General Definition Definition: Economics is a study of how people allocate their limited resources such as land, labour and capital to provide for their unlimited wants. 1.3 Branches of Economics 1.3.1 Microeconomics Definition: Microeconomics studies the economic decision making of firms and individuals in a market setting. The issues that are studied under Microeconomic analysis are: - a) How consumers behave. b) How business firms

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