Skip to Main Content

Economics

the social science concerned chiefly with description and analysis of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services

Introduction

 Economics focuses on how individuals, governments, businesses and nations decide how to allocate scarce resources to satisfy their unlimited wants. Economics is often divided into: macroeconomics, which concentrates on the behavior of the aggregate economy; and microeconomics, which focuses on individual consumers. Two of the major approaches in economics are referred to as the classical and Keynesian approaches. Classical economists believe that markets function very well, will quickly react to any changes in equilibrium and the government should take a  "laissez faire" approach to the economy. Keynesian economists, however, believe that markets react very slowly to changes in equilibrium (especially to changes in prices) and that active government intervention is sometimes the best approach to return the economy to equilibrium.

Related Guides

Help Guides

We have created several Help Guides to help you navigate using library and information resources and tools. These guides are designed to walk you through finding what you need while offering tips, tricks, and other useful information. 

Something Missing?

Do you see something missing from this guide? Let us know! Icon of a question mark over a person

The library is always open to adding missing content to our guides. We are happy to add new links, information, and resources you may be aware of. Please email us at ask@udc.libanswers.com to share any links or information you would like to see us include.