"Economics is the science of Wealth."
- Adam Smith (The Father of Economics)
"Economics is a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life; it examines that part of individual and social action which is most closely connected with the attainment and with the use of material requisites of well being."
- Alfred Marshall (Man who escaped economics from disgrace of being dismal science)
"Economics is the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses."
- Lionel Robbins (Man who made economics a positive science)
Above three definitions pertain to three eras of economic thinking. While the first definition is what began the journey of economics as a seperate discipline. The second definition marks the beginning of era of change in economic thought wherein there was an urge among economists to free economics from the disgrace of being a science of mere bread and butter, teaching selfishness to people as it was often described then. Sir Alfred Marshall introduced the concept of material welfare and other economists followed him thus connecting economics to life of people and making it a discipline that could contribute in making life of people better.
The third definition introduced objectivity in economics. It freed economics from the work of value judgement and defined as its scope the study of economic phenomena as it is. According to this definition economics is the scence that helps us in rationally analysind different needs and their urgency and then allocating resources where they are most needed.
Economic thinking took a revolutionary leap with the contributions from JM Keynes. During the "Great Depression" of 1930s when the whole world was looking for a ray of hope in darkness Keynes came up with his revolutionary ideas of govt. intervention in economic activities to keep the economy stable. According to Keynes Economics studies how levels of income and employment in a community are determined. Keynes contribution to economic theory is so immense that it is talked of seperately as Keynsian Economics.
More recently Growth and Development have started to gain focus of economists and have become main areas of study. Economic thinking today is more focussed on economic growth and stability.
- Adam Smith (The Father of Economics)
"Economics is a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life; it examines that part of individual and social action which is most closely connected with the attainment and with the use of material requisites of well being."
- Alfred Marshall (Man who escaped economics from disgrace of being dismal science)
"Economics is the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses."
- Lionel Robbins (Man who made economics a positive science)
Above three definitions pertain to three eras of economic thinking. While the first definition is what began the journey of economics as a seperate discipline. The second definition marks the beginning of era of change in economic thought wherein there was an urge among economists to free economics from the disgrace of being a science of mere bread and butter, teaching selfishness to people as it was often described then. Sir Alfred Marshall introduced the concept of material welfare and other economists followed him thus connecting economics to life of people and making it a discipline that could contribute in making life of people better.
The third definition introduced objectivity in economics. It freed economics from the work of value judgement and defined as its scope the study of economic phenomena as it is. According to this definition economics is the scence that helps us in rationally analysind different needs and their urgency and then allocating resources where they are most needed.
Economic thinking took a revolutionary leap with the contributions from JM Keynes. During the "Great Depression" of 1930s when the whole world was looking for a ray of hope in darkness Keynes came up with his revolutionary ideas of govt. intervention in economic activities to keep the economy stable. According to Keynes Economics studies how levels of income and employment in a community are determined. Keynes contribution to economic theory is so immense that it is talked of seperately as Keynsian Economics.
More recently Growth and Development have started to gain focus of economists and have become main areas of study. Economic thinking today is more focussed on economic growth and stability.
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