INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS.
The term “economics” has been derived from a Greek Word “Oikonomia” which means „household‟. Economics is a social science. It is called „social‟ because it studies mankind of society. It deals with aspects of human behavior. It is called science since it studies social problems from a scientific point of view. The development of economics as a growing science can be traced back in the writings of Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle. Economics was treated as a branch of politics during early days of its development because ancient Greeks applied this term to the management of citystate, which they called „Polis‟. Actually economics broadened into a full fledged social science in the later half of the 18th century.
Definition of Economics
Classical economists like Adam Smith, Ricardo, Mill Malthus and others; socialist economist like Karl Marx; neo-classical economists like Alfred Marshall, AC Pigou and Lionel Robbins and modern economists like JM Keynes, Samuelson and others have made considerable contribution to the development of Economics. Hence a plethora of definitions are available in connection with the subject matter of economics. These are broadly divided into
A. Wealth Definition,
B. Welfare Definition,
C. Scarcity Definition and
D. Growth Definition
A. Wealth Definition
Really the science of economics was born in 1776, when Adam Smith published his famous book “An Enquiry into the Nature and Cause of Wealth of Nation”. He defined economics as the study of the nature and cause of national wealth. According to him, economics is the study of wealth- How wealth is produced and distributed. He is called as “father of economics” and his definition is popularly called “Wealth definition”. But this definition was severely criticized by highlighting the points like; Too much emphasis on wealth, Restricted meaning of wealth, No consideration for human feelings, No mention for man‟s welfare Silent about economic problem etc…
B. Welfare Definition
It was Alfred Marshall who rescued the economics from the above criticisms. By his classic work “Principles of Economics”, published in 1890, he shifted the emphasis from wealth to human welfare. According to him wealth is simply a means to an end in all activities, the end being human welfare. He adds, that economics “is on the one side a study of the wealth; and the other and more important side, a part of the study of man”. Marshall gave primary importance to man and secondary importance to wealth. Prof. A C Pigou was also holding Marshall‟s view. This definition clarified the scope of economics and rescued economics from the grip of being called “Dismal science”, but this definition also criticized on the grounds that welfare cannot be measured correctly and it was ignored the valuable services like teachers,lawyers,singers etc (non-material welfare)
C. Scarcity Definition
After Alfred Marshall, Lionel Robbins formulated his own conception of economics in his book “The Nature and Significance of Economic Science” in 1932. According to him, “Economics is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scares means which have alternative uses”. He gave importance to four fundamental characters of human existence such as;
1. Unlimited wants- In his definition “ends” refers to human wants which are boundless or unlimited. 2. Scarcity of means (Limited Resources) – the resources (time and money) at the disposal of a person to satisfy his wants are limited.
3. Alternate uses of Scares means- Economic resources not only scarce but have alternate uses also. So one has to make choice of uses.
4. The Economic Problem –when wants are unlimited, means are scarce and have alternate uses, the economic problem arises. Hence we need to arrange wants in the order of urgency.
The merits of scarcity definition are; this definition is analytical, universal in application, a positive study and considering the concept of opportunity cost. But this also criticized on the grounds that; it is too narrow and too wide, it offers only light but not fruit, confined to micro analysis and ignores Growth economics etc..
D. Modern Definition
The credit for revolutionizing the study of economics surely goes to Lord J.M Keynes. He defined economics as the “study of the administration of scares resources and the determinants of income and employment”.
Prof. Samuelson recently given a definition based on growth aspects which is known as Growth definition. “Economics is the study of how people and society end up choosing, with or without the use of money to employ scarce productive resources that could have alternative uses to produce various commodities and distribute them for consumption, now or in the future, among various persons or groups in society. Economics analyses the costs and the benefits of improving patterns of resources use”. Main features of growth definition are; it is applicable even in barter economy, the inclusion of time element makes the scope of economics dynamic and it is an improvement in scarcity definition.