economics is the Study of allocation of scarce means to alternate ends discuss
Answers
The recent interest in the sphere of consumption has stemmed from a more general recasting of the definition of economics. Instead of being concerned with particular spheres of human activity (i.,e., production and distribution), economists have proclaimed their subject to be the theory of the allocation of scarce resources among competing ends. This definition can include not only the allocation of productive factors within the sphere of production or the distribution of the product, but also the allocation of resources within the family.
There are two focal points to this second approach to defining economics. The first is the focus on allocation, or choosing among alternatives. The second is the emphasis on scarcity.
The preoccupation with allocation in economics has evolved into seeing economics essentially as a theory of choice --of the logical processes through which people choose among alternatives. Thus, economists study how individuals, corporations and the government choose to allocate their resources.
In the case of individuals, economists study how they choose to allocate their time between working for a wage and leisure, how they choose to allocate their wage among various goods and services they can buy, and how they choose to allocate those goods within the family. In most theories of individual choice, it is assumed that individuals make their choices in the light of factors over which they have no influence, e.g., the wage rate available to them, the prices they must pay for goods, the amount of money they have available and so on.
In the case of the business firm (most commonly today this is a limited liability corporation), economists look at the decision about which goods to produce, what combination of inputs to buy to produce them and, in some cases, what prices to charge. Here again it is often assumed that firms face given prices of inputs, a given demand for various products and a given array of available technologies.
In the case of the government, there are two areas of economics that study decisions about economic policy. Macroeconomics focuses on two things: first, what is called fiscal policy or decisions about aggregate spending and its financing, i.e., the mix of taxation and borrowing, and second, it also concerns government monetary policy, i.e., control over the aggregate quantity of money in circulation.
The second area of economics concerned with government choices is called public finance. It is preoccupied with a detailed, disaggregated analysis of how the government chooses to allocate its spending and how it chooses to impose its taxes and organize its borrowing. For example, public finance economists ask questions about the impact on industrial structure of a given pattern of government expenditures or about the impact of a given tax policy on the distribution of wealth.
In all of these cases we can see how the study of choice is aimed at providing theory which can provide useful input into policy making, into the management of various aspects of the “economy,” whether by business, individuals or government.
When economists think about the process of choosing among alternatives, they usually assume what they call "rationality" on the part of decision-makers. By rationality they mean that those doing the choosing are able to rank their preferences (i.e., know they prefer choice A to choice B or vice versa or are indifferent between the two choices). This also implies decision-makers understand the trade-offs involved in choosing A over B or vice versa. By trade-off economists mean what the chooser gives up by taking A instead of B. What they are giving up by not taking B these economists call the "opportunity cost" of A.
Now, we must note that in these analyses of choice, economists assume that decisions are made by individuals or groups acting as individuals. There is little analysis in economics of the actual processes through which groups actually make decisions. That is another subject which economists, for the most part, leave to managers and sociologists (in the case of corporations) or to political scientists (in the case of governments). There is thus a bias in contemporary mainstream economics to analyze choice in terms of individual choice.
The second focus of most contemporary definitions of economics is scarcity. Decision-makers are thought to be choosing among scarce resources. Most economists consider the concept of scarcity to be fairly commonsensical and obvious. That which is not infinite, is, by definition, scarce. Individuals must decide how to allocate their money because they have only limited amounts of it to spend. Firms must carefully calculate how to employ their investment funds to avoid waste because they have only so much money available.
Answer:
Economic is the field of study that is best placed to track, study , projects and human behaviour , and as such is one of the most important and relevant skill for yhe world today, helping us choose wisely when it come to our personal , social and professional life.