Introduction What Is Economics? How I Would Define It If I were asked to provide an answer to the question of "What is Economics?

" on a test, I'd probably write the following explanation: "Economics is the study of how individuals and groups make decisions with limited resources as to best satisfy their wants, needs, and desires". From this definition, we can break down the study of economics into two broad categories - microeconomics and macroeconomics. What is Economics? - How Others Define Economics The Economist's Dictionary of Economics defines economics as "The study of the production, distribution and consumption of wealth in human society." Saint Michael's College answers the question "What is Economics?" with the answer "Most simply put, economics is the study of making choices." Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis answers the question "What is Economics?" with the explanation "Economics is a social science that studies human behaviour. Economics has a unique method for analysing and predicting individual behaviour as well as the effects of institutions such as firms and governments, or clubs and religions." What is Microeconomic? Roughly speaking, microeconomics deals with economics decisions made at a low, or micro, level. More precisely, I would define microeconomics as "the analysis of the decisions made by individuals and groups, the factors that affect those decisions and how those decisions affect others".

Microeconomic decisions by both firms and individuals are motivated by cost and benefit considerations. Costs can be either in terms of financial costs such as average fixed costs and total variable costs or they can be in terms of opportunity costs, which consider alternatives foregone. The Economist's Dictionary of Economics defines Microeconomics as "The study of economics at the level of individual consumers, groups of consumers, or firms... The general concern of microeconomics is the efficient allocation of scarce resources between alternative uses but more specifically it involves the determination of price through the optimizing behaviour of economic agents, with consumers maximizing utility and firms maximizing profit." What is Macroeconomic? The Economist's Dictionary of Economics defines Macroeconomics as "The study of whole economic systems aggregating over the functioning of individual economic units. It is primarily concerned with variables which follow systematic and predictable paths of behaviour and can be analysed independently of the decisions of the many agents who determine their level. More specifically, it is a study of national economies and the determination of national income." Why Study Economics? It's Fun! Because I enjoy the topic. That's an absolute must to study economics. I wouldn't suggest anyone study economics if they do not enjoy at least some of the topics involved. Like anything in life, you get out of studying economics what you put in. Don't study economics because you think it's the route to a high paying job - you'll likely hate the program so much that you drop out (or fail) and if you do end up graduating, you might find you don't like the jobs your degree has made you qualified for.

Terrific Job Opportunities for Economics Graduates Because there are many job opportunities for economics graduates. You are not guaranteed a good-paying job with an economics degree, but your chances are higher than in other programs. With an economics degree you can work in a variety of different fields from finance and banking, public policy, sales and marketing, civil service (government departments, the Federal Reserve, etc.), insurance and actuarial work, etc. You can also go on to do further studies in economics, political science, business, or a variety of other fields. If you're certain your interest is in the business world, a business degree may be a better fit, but an economics degree does open a lot of doors. Economics Knowledge Is Useful At a Personal Level Because you learn a lot of skills and knowledge that you can apply to other jobs or to your personal life. Learning about interest rates, exchange rates, economic indicators and equity markets can help you make better decisions about investing and obtaining mortgages. The statistical skills I gained I've used again and again, mostly in business settings. Economists Understand Unintended Consequences Because economics teach students how to understand and spot secondary effects and possible unintended consequences. This may seem relatively unimportant, but it's the most useful thing I've received from my economics training. Most economics problems have secondary effects - the deadweight loss from taxation is one such secondary effect. A government creates a tax to pay for some needed social program, but the secondary effect of that tax is that it changes people's behaviour, causing economic growth to slow. By learning more about economics and working on hundreds of economics problems, you learn the skill of being able to spot secondary effects and unintended consequences in other areas.

This can help you make better decisions about your personal life and make you more valuable to business; "what are the possible secondary effects from the proposed marketing campaign?" It likely won't help you get a job, but being able to spot and understand the importance of secondary effects, it may help you keep a job or earn a promotion that much faster. Economics Provides an Understanding of How the World Works Because you will learn more about how the world works. You will learn more about the impact decisions have on the firm, industry, and national level. You will learn more about the impact of international trade, both good and bad. You will discover the effect government policies have on the economy and on employment; again both good and bad. It will help you make more informed decisions as both a consumer and as a voter. Furthermore, I personally believe that having a more economically literate set of bureaucrats, politicians, and journalists would be great for society - so long as they always keep an open mind about what they've been exposed to. Economics, when done properly, shouldn't so much tell people what to think, rather it should give them tools about how to think of things more clearly and realizing the assumptions they may be making. Well economics is a very interesting subject. Economics is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. It also helps us to know what relationship between demands and supply, what causes demand? Why economy is in recession? Why inflation is an economic problem? It helps us to understand how changes in economic policies affects our daily life. Studying economics can improve your financial situation - there is personal benefit from studying economics. Everyone should have at the least a basic understanding of Economics because you may or may not use the information you learn in Literature class in your life but you will use information you learn in Economics in one way or another and heres how:

If you live in a democracy, people have the power to vote for politicians that will create economic policies that will affect you in many ways whether it is taxes you pay or services you use or the things you buy. Lots of politicians take advantage of the fact many people dont know how the economy works and they trick people into believing policies that in the end dont benefit all people but themselves or some special interest or group of people. With a basic understanding of economics you can find which politician is a liar, knows their stuff or is plain clueless of whats going on. Economics is not just about business It is a social science or a study of how people value things or perceive the value of things among other studies.it touches every part of life and almost every discipline whether it is business- looking at how people value products, science- looking at the most efficient or cost effective ways of creating a product, social problems- how to help the poor, psychology why people value one concept over another even religion- how people view sharing and work. Whatever you study or whatever profession you are in you will find an economic component to it. Understanding of Economics will give you a better understanding of investments and how domestic and foreign economies effect your personal investments and wealth. For instance, if you understand how the US economy interacts with the rest of the world, you may be able to predict an event such as the price of gold going up. Example: People who understood how the US dollar is connected to the job market and consumer spending and the price of gold may be able to make money. IE as the US economy fails, along with stag inflation from increasing oil prices can cause the dollar to loose value relative to other economies in the world the result of the dollar going down is gold going up People in the know exchanged their US dollars for gold and have made profits as a result. The more you know about economics the more you can anticipate events and possibly make some money from it. Understanding Economics can help you in getting a job or choosing a profession ie Say you dont know if you want to be a doctor or engineer. Example: What if the job market for health care is on the rise, while engineering jobs are going overseas; you know you are more likely to get a job in health care then engineering Also, if a job is in high demand is pays more than one in low demand

An economics degree provides solid preparation for a variety of business careers. Method of thought it teaches, and for specific knowledge it imparts. The economic way of thinking is analytical, clear, concise, and rigorous. People with training in economics are good at problem solving because they learn to identify problems, to specify alternative solutions, to determine what data are relevant, and to objectively weigh costs and benefits in making decisions. In addition to acquiring a useful way of thinking, economics majors study a variety of topics which have important implications for managerial decisions. These include demand theory and estimation, production and cost theory, analysis of market structure, antitrust policy, government regulation of business, capital budgeting, inflation, unemployment, determination of interest rates, and international economics. Many economics majors do go into business. A survey at Marquette University, for example, showed 41% of economics majors working in business six months after graduation, and another 18% going into business after taking graduate work in various fields. These economics majors worked in a wide range of areas including purchasing and sales, financial analysis, banking, management, and systems analysis. This diversity demonstrates the general applicability of the analytical skills acquired by economics majors. Economics also offers an excellent preparation for law school. Many law schools believe economics provides one of the best backgrounds for success in legal studies, because of the logical, analytical way of thinking it teaches. This is true now more than ever, since one of the leading new disciplines in law schools is the law-andeconomics approach which applies economic reasoning to almost all legal questions. The growing importance of economics in the law is also shown by the enrollment of over 200 federal judges in special economics programs offered at the Center for Law and Economics, formerly at the University of Miami Law School, and now at Emory University in Atlanta. In the Marquette University survey, previously mentioned, 27% of economics graduates went on to law school. The analytical skills of an economics major are useful in the public sector as well as the private sector. Training in public finance, public choice, human resources, and urban and regional economics is particularly useful as preparation for government c

Interest in Economics as a major is growing for a wide range of reasons: 1. Intellectually Exciting: Economics is a field dealing with important and interesting subjects such as capitalism vs. socialism, management of inflation and unemployment, economic development of poor countries, pollution and global warming, energy policy, national defence, international trade and finance, social security, and many specific government policies such deregulation of electricity, the minimum wage, agricultural price supports, and rent control. 2. Growing Field: Economics is a dynamic field which is constantly expanding its scope. Economics has been so successful studying its traditional subjects, that economists have invaded other areas of study and established new fields such as public choice economics (the application of economic analysis to the study of politics), law and economics (now a field in top law schools), household production theory (applying economic analysis to study household use of time, as well as marriage, divorce, child rearing) ,and bio economics (where economists and biologists apply economics to biology). 3. Recognized Major: Economics is a prestigious major. Economics is widely viewed as the top social science in the world today. There is a Nobel Prize in economics. Like physics, mathematics, chemistry, and biology, economics is highly respected as a successful academic field which operates at the highest intellectual level. 4. Career Preparation: Economics is an extremely practical field, and a major in economics is excellent preparation for careers in business, government, and the law, as well as for specific areas in education, journalism, Foreign Service, consulting and politics. 5. Graduate School: Economics is an excellent major for those going on to graduate school in economics, public policy studies, and business.

Undergraduate economics programs do not train students to be professional economists. However, the undergraduate major does prepare students to take the graduate work necessary to become an economist. Economists with M.S. and Ph.D.degrees are employed as teachers and researchers in academia and as researchers, forecasters, and administrators in both government and business. An undergraduate major in economics also can be ideal preparation for work on a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at a graduate business school. Many graduate business schools prefer that their students have a broad liberal arts background, which an economics major provides. Also, a considerable portion of the MBA program is based on economics. Financial theory, for example, is largely applied microeconomics. Students with good backgrounds in economics are clearly at an advantage in many MBA programs. 6. Flexibility: An economics major opens many doors, and closes few. A student who majors in economics has a great deal of flexibility in adjusting to changes in personal interests, educational objectives, and career plans. If one starts out with plans to go to work directly after graduation, but then later decides to go to law school, nothing is lost if economics has been chosen as the major. Or, if one loses interest in law school, and wants to pursue an MBA instead, the transition is relatively easy if economics is the major. Obviously such flexibility is a major plus of the economics major.

Dr. SAM, salah seorang sahabat Pedro sejak zaman sebelum dia memeluk islam lagi. *Jika anda berada di sekitar Ampang saya sarankan untuk menyokong saudara baru kita ini dengan mengunjungi Restoran beliau Alamat: Restoran Pedro Portugis Muslim, C-G, Dataran Palma, Jalan Selaman 1, 68000 Ampang, Selangor. Restoran ini juga menyediakan hidangan buffet setiap Sabtu dari 7pm -10pm. Semoga Allah membalas segala jasa baik kalian. Amin.