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[[Economics]] is a social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth.[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109547?query=Economics&ct=] The word "economics" is from the [[Greek language|Greek]] polytonic|οἶκος [''oikos''], "family, household, estate," and  νόμος [''nomos''], "custom, law," and hence means "household management" or "management of the state." An [[economist]] is a person using economic concepts and data in the course of employment, or someone who has earned a university [[academic degree|degree]] in the subject. The classic brief definition of economics, set out by [[Lionel Robbins]] in 1932, is "the science which studies human behavior as a relation between scarce means having alternative uses." Absent scarcity and alternative uses, there is no [[economic problem]]. Briefer yet is "the study of how people seek to satisfy needs and wants" and "the study of the financial aspects of human behaviour."

[[Economics]] is a social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth.[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109547?query=Economics&ct=] The word "economics" is from the [[Greek language|Greek]] polytonic|οἶκος [''oikos''], "family, household, estate," and  νόμος [''nomos''], "custom, law," and hence means "household management" or "management of the state." An [[economist]] is a person using economic concepts and data in the course of employment, or someone who has earned a university [[academic degree|degree]] in the subject. The classic brief definition of economics, set out by [[Lionel Robbins]] in 1932, is "the science which studies human behavior as a relation between scarce means having alternative uses." Absent scarcity and alternative uses, there is no [[economic problem]]. Briefer yet is "the study of how people seek to satisfy needs and wants" and "the study of the financial aspects of human behaviour."

 

Economics has two broad branches: [[microeconomics]], where the unit of analysis is the [[individual]] agent, such as a household, firm and [[macroeconomics]], where the unit of analysis is an economy as a whole. Another division of the subject distinguishes [[positive]] economics, which seeks to predict and explain economic phenomena, from [[normative]] economics, which orders choices and actions by some criterion; such orderings necessarily involve [[subjective]] [[value]] judgments. Since the early part of the 20th century, economics has focused largely on measurable quantities, employing both theoretical models and empirical analysis. [[Quantitative]] models, however, can be traced as far back as the [[physiocratic school]]. Economic reasoning has been increasingly applied in recent decades to social situations where there is no monetary consideration, such as [[politics]], [[law]], [[psychology]], [[history]], [[religion]], [[marriage]] and family life, and other social interactions.

Economics has two broad branches: [[microeconomics]], where the unit of analysis is the [[individual]] agent, such as a household, firm and [[macroeconomics]], where the unit of analysis is an economy as a whole. Another division of the subject distinguishes [[positive]] economics, which seeks to predict and explain economic phenomena, from [[normative]] economics, which orders choices and actions by some criterion; such orderings necessarily involve [[subjective]] [[value]] judgments. Since the early part of the 20th century, economics has focused largely on measurable quantities, employing both theoretical models and empirical analysis. [[Quantitative]] models, however, can be traced as far back as the [[physiocratic school]]. Economic reasoning has been increasingly applied in recent decades to social situations where there is no monetary consideration, such as [[politics]], [[law]], [[psychology]], [[history]], [[religion]], [[marriage]] and family life, and other social interactions.