What is Economics?
Economics is about making choices and allocation of resources. Every day we make so many choices. How much should I spend on food, clothes and accessories? What’s the best car to buy? Where should we go for vacation? What are the benefits of a particular degree versus taking a job and learning though it. How much to invest in asset and fixed deposit? Who is the right politician to vote for? Should i start my YouTube channel or Blog? There are tonnes of questions that goes on in our mind to which we have to make a choice.
Some people think of economics from the only point of view of money. Economics is not just about money. It is about comparing and analyzing different choices or alternatives. Of course many of those important choices is related to money, but keep in mind it is not just about money. For example, whether you will clean the house or your mom will do the dishes, whether you should spend an hour doing preparation for exam or research about a new topic and write an article on it, or may be you should take up a side job while you are studying or completely focus on studies. In these cases, money hardly plays any role. The best strategy is to prioritize your options based on certain aspects which helps you in taking a good decision.
You may also go on to think that economics is all about being “efficient” or making the best choice without less wastage. That is definitely part of economics, however that is just the outer glamour of a present. Let me give you an example:- it is very efficient if you can get two or more than two jobs done at the same time. A trip to grocery shopping can also be accompanied with a visit to barber or meeting a friend. That would be an awesome way to get two jobs done at the same time. After all, we all want to be efficient. But sometimes we don’t choose the most efficient options. Hence, economics just cannot be all about efficiency.
But the big question to ask is, whether economics is a science or is it a social science or may be an art? How can we solve the biggest economic problems of a nation like:- education, poverty, unemployment etc. How can we make rational and well informed choices?