The subject matter of economics in nutshell is the allocation and optimum utilisation of the resources to create the necessaries. Fundamentally, it is centred on the forces driving and sustaining the economy. The economy that is existing in the twenty-first century.
The debate about its nature - scientific or humanitarian has existed since the existence of the discipline. It fundamentally revolves around theories and propositions.
They can be further classified on the basis of the era of the economists who have either formulated or propagated them i.e. classical, neo-classical and modern economists.
Despite its theoretical nature, it is applied in an array of sectors. Primary among them is the finance and banking sector along with bureaucracy. Along with this, it is used in the management and analysis of the resources of every enterprise creating the need of economists in most of the enterprises.
The core Economics is fundamentally divided into Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. Microeconomics primarily constitutes the theories formulated on the grounds of assumptions for the study of economy on a micro level i.e. behaviour of consumers, demand and supply. Whereas, Macroeconomics deals with the study of an economy of a society i.e. money, banking, models of an economy.
The modern economics has found an application oriented study of the subject leading to the birth of various branches of Economics i.e. environmental economics, behavioural economics, financial economics, agricultural economics, labour economics, public economics, international economics and quantitative economics.
Dwelling on its essence in our daily life, one realises it acts as a core to design and management of literally anything. Its principles holds in application of day to day life's decisions.
A clip on its essence to anybody new to the subject is as follows:
If one wants a formal definition to the discipline then it can be as follows:
Investopedia states, "Economics is a social science concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. It studies how individuals, businesses, governments, and nations make choices on allocating resources to satisfy their wants and needs and tries to determine how these groups should organize and coordinate efforts to achieve maximum output."
The history of Economics can be found in the existence of disciplines in primeval civilisations to regulate the economic processes of the society. With the onset of industrialisation, it formulated into a core discipline of social sciences and later modified into a subject of discipline fundamental in realising what drives and sustains our society.
Mathematical Modelling is suggestive of the predictive nature of this branch of social sciences. It is fundamentally based on assumptions of the rational behaviour of consumers which can't hold true in every market. It shows the limitations of the quantitave nature of the discipline. Thus, it is aptly a humanitarian discipline due to its rigorous application in social sciences which is fundamental in understanding the workings of the society.
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