Economics

Introduction

Today in the morning you got dressed, had breakfast, brushed your teeth, took public transportation or a car to get to work or school, worked or studied, went out, had a snack, maybe a plan with friends, had dinner and went to sleep in a bed, with sheets and pillows. Like you, millions of other people in your city, billions of people in the world, find ways to satisfy their needs and desires on a daily basis. Not all societies in the world, nor all communities throughout history, have solved the satisfaction of these needs in the same way. While at one time, for example, the way to feed oneself was through hunting and gathering, today it is mainly through the market.

What do we call economics?

You probably feel that you know perfectly well what economics is. However, there is no single answer to define it. So let's put together our own definition of economics, taking into account some others that may be relevant:

P. Samuelson: “The study of the way in which societies use scarce resources to produce valuable goods and distribute them among different individuals”.

F. Mochon: “The study of how societies manage their scarce resources to produce goods and services, and distribute them among different individuals.”

K. Marx: “Scientific discipline that analyzes the relations of production that occur within society.”

Mankiw: Economies is the study of how society manages its scarce resources.

Cambridge Dictionary: the system of trade and industry by which the wealth of a country is made and used:

Our definition:

pALLicies: Economics is a science that seeks to study the different forms acquired by the organization of the processes of production and distribution of goods and services aimed at meeting the needs (basic or acquired) of the members of society. Like any social science, economics is conditioned by the historical context of its community.

The importance of scarcity: The reason why economics makes sense as a scientific discipline is simple: resources are scarce. If we could all satisfy all our desires unlimitedly, (as for example, today we can enjoy the oxygen necessary to survive), the study of how these infinite resources are distributed would not make sense. Economics is permanently dealing with constraints, and analyzing how those scarce resources are managed.

The two branches: Currently, economics divides its object of study between two main branches. On the one hand, microeconomics analyzes the behavior and decisions of economic units - in relative isolation - such as consumers, industries or a specific market. We speak, for example, of the demand for tomatoes, the price of gasoline, or the competition between two companies in the same sector.

Macroeconomics, on the other hand, looks at the interrelationships of all units throughout the economy as a whole. It tries to simplify the global behavior of economic agents into a limited number of variables, such as the Gross Domestic Product, inflation or the interest rate.

Closing:

In Pallicies we are going to deal principally with inquiring about Economic Policy, and the close relationship that exists between a set of governmental measures and the progress of the economy as a whole.