In this chapter you will be introduced to the subject matter of economics and the rationale that motivates us to study economics.

Economics is a social science discipline that investigates how individuals, businesses, governments, and societies allocate scarce resources to satisfy their unlimited desires and needs.

Aug 25, 2025 · What Is Economics? The study of economics is a social science primarily concerned with analyzing the choices that individuals, businesses, governments, and nations make to allocate limited...

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In the 20th century, English economist Lionel Robbins defined economics as “the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between (given) ends and scarce means which have alternative …

Jan 27, 2025 · Economics, a social science, explores how societies make decisions with limited resources. It investigates how we allocate these resources to fulfill our wants and needs, aiming for …

Or, in more formal language, economics is the study of how societies divide and use their resources to produce goods and services and of how those goods and services are then distributed and consumed.

Watch this video for a brief overview of economics. You’ll often encounter videos like this, enclosed inside of “Watch It” boxes, in this course. These are highly recommended and serve as wonderful …

Learn the basic principles of economic theory, policy, supply and demand, and more in Rice University’s Principles of Economics Intro Course 1, 100% online.

Jun 23, 2022 · This article is an introduction to economics. In this article, we discuss the definition of economics, branches of economics, economics as social science, types of economics, methodology …