What is economics concerned with?

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 648.

People often think of economics as concerned only with (1) ____, business, and supply and demand. But economics is about much more and has been since its beginnings as a branch of philosophy. The 19th century (2)____ Alfred Marshall said it best when he described economics as the study of people in the business of everyday life.

The word “economics” (3) ____ a Latin word for managing a household but today it refers to much more than that. Families and economies have a lot in common. (4) ____ of a household involves decisions over what tasks should be done and who should do them, such as who raises the children, who supports the family and who does the chores. Managing a household requires decisions about how to (5) ____ such resources as time and people to achieve the best household management.

The field of (6) ____ goes beyond the household to the society. Societies must decide what jobs will be done, what products to produce and who should perform what tasks.

Economics studies how societies manage resources to (7) ____ people's wants and needs. This definition can apply to individuals, families, companies and even entire nations. Resource allocation is important in economics because resources are scarce. People have unlimited (8) ____ and needs, but society cannot provide every single thing that people want. This means decisions must be made about what to produce, who should produce it and for whom it should be produced.

4. Read the text again and answer the questions.

1.What does economics study?

2.Does economics deal only with the household management?

3.What decisions must be made in order to use scarce resources efficiently?