Página 11 - Coordinación de Servicios de Información

ECONOMICS:
(a general description)
• Economics is the study of human behaviour in using resources
to satisfy wants. It is concerned with such subjects as methods of
organizing the production of goods and services, me thods of dis–
tribution of the products, and the sharing of the products.
The name is derived from the Greek words oikos (house) and
nemien (to manage).ln a self sustaining famiy like that in Greece in
primitive times or that of early American pioneers, the members of
the household did their own building, tilled the land, prepared their
own food and made most of their own dothing. Managers of house–
holds therfore strove to use the available woods, stone, fields, wa–
ter, and whatever domestic animals the family possessed. Sucessful
management involved applying an efficient way, choosing for each
task the worker best fitted for it, obtaining the best possible tools
and other equipment, dividing the product fairly and according to
the requirements of the individual concerned and saving some–
thing for possible future need .
The same problems characterize the economic practices of larger
units, such as cities, nations or groups of nations.Allocation of scarce
resources (that is, resources of which there is not enough to satisfy
al! demands for products derived from them) in such a way as to
meet needs in the order of their importance; production and distri–
bution by the most efficient methods; and fair distribution of the
product are recognized by economists as desirable aims of economic
policy. Economic writings indude not only observation of actual
practices, and meaningful analysis of their operation, but judgments
concerning the effectiveness of various systems or policies in satis–
fying wants.
Since economic behavior is only one aspect ofhuman behavior, eco–
nomics is allied with other behavioral or social sciences. Econom–
ics is closely linked with political science, since the State or govern–
ment is itself an important economic unit and exercises much in–
fluence over the transaction of groups and individuals. Physchology,
sociology, and anthropology are relevant because economists often
discuss motives or incentives for economic behavior, and because
the influence of particular cultures on economic behavior patterns
English for Economists 9 III~ ~IIIIilllll ~I I III
2894663