Economics

Economics is the study of how human society uses resources. Beyond that necessary and basic preoccupation, some leading economists have offered alternative, more specific definitions of the subject e.g.

"Economics is the study of people in the ordinary business of life." -- Alfred Marshall, Principles of economics; an introductory volume (London: Macmillan, 1890)

"Economics is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between given ends and scarce means which have alternative uses." -- Lionel Robbins, An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science (London: MacMillan, 1932)

Economics is the “study of how societies use scarce resources to produce valuable commodities and distribute them among different people. -- Paul A. Samuelson, Economics (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1948)

The word "economics" is from the Greek words [oikos], meaning "house, temple, hall, camp, nest" and [nomos], or "custom, law, convention" and hence literally means "rules of the household." Originally termed political economy, the term economics grew in popularity with the marginal revolution. While discussions about production and distribution date back to ancient laws, and to philosophers such as Plato, the field is generally considered to have been clearly separated from philosophy by the publication of Adam Smith's book, generally called The Wealth of Nations, which focused on how the market can regulate production and consumption through price signals.

The field may be divided in several different ways, most commonly microeconomics vs macroeconomics. It may also be divided in positive (descriptive) vs. normative, mainstream vs. heterodox, and by subfield. Economics has many direct applications in business, personal finance, and government.

There has been an increasing trend for ideas and methods from economics to be applied in other fields. Economic analysis focuses on decision making, and has been applied to various fields where people are faced with alternatives – education, marriage, health, law, crime, war, and religion