Changes

[[Image:NYSE-floor.jpg|right|thumb|Face-to-face trading on the [[New York Stock Exchange]]'s trading floor.]]

[[Image:NYSE-floor.jpg|right|thumb|Face-to-face trading on the [[New York Stock Exchange]]'s trading floor.]]

'''Economics''' is the study of opportunity.  More specifically, economics is the study of the opportunities made possible by the [[production]], [[distribution]], and [[consumption]] of [[goods]] and [[services]]. 'Because of its primary application to government policy, it is understandable why the subject was originally known as political economy, which was its name from the time of [[Adam Smith]] to the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when the change to "economics" took place.' [http://www.capitalism.net/Capitalism/Economics%20and%20Capitalism.htm]

'''Economics''' is the study of opportunity.  More specifically, economics is the study of the opportunities made possible by the [[production]], [[distribution]], and [[consumption]] of [[goods]] and [[services]]. 'Because of its primary application to government policy, it is understandable why the subject was originally known as political economy, which was its name from the time of [[Adam Smith]] to the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when the change to "economics" took place.' <ref name="capitalism.net">http://www.capitalism.net/Capitalism/Economics%20and%20Capitalism.htm</ref>

Economics attempts "to explain the way in which individuals interact with one another, to use their limited resources to satisfy their alternative ends." [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/int_miltonfriedman.html#10]

Economics attempts "to explain the way in which individuals interact with one another, to use their limited resources to satisfy their alternative ends." <ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/int_miltonfriedman.html#10</ref>

It is a social [[science]], concerned with how people produce, distribute, and consume.   

It is a social [[science]], concerned with how people produce, distribute, and consume.   

Governments can be classified by their economic policy.  The [[U.S. Constitution]] provides basic protections for [[private property]] that are the foundation of American economic policy.

Governments can be classified by their economic policy.  The [[U.S. Constitution]] provides basic protections for [[private property]] that are the foundation of American economic policy.

George Reisman, Professor of Economics at [[Pepperdine University]], wrote

George Reisman, Professor of Economics at [[Pepperdine University]], wrote

* Economics, as the science which studies the production of [[wealth]] under a system of division of labor, is actually the science which studies the production of wealth under [[capitalism]]. [http://www.capitalism.net/Capitalism/Economics%20and%20Capitalism.htm]

{{cquote|Economics, as the science which studies the production of [[wealth]] under a system of division of labor, is actually the science which studies the production of wealth under [[capitalism]].<ref name="capitalism.net">http://www.capitalism.net/Capitalism/Economics%20and%20Capitalism.htm</ref>}}

C. Lowell Harriss, a professor of economics at Columbia, describes economics as the study of the allocation of scarce goods and services.  In market economies, this is determined by [[supply and demand]].<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/business/13every.html?em&ex=1216440000&en=a9a6d3e97f11545f&ei=5087%0A Lessons in Love, by Way of Economics]</ref>

C. Lowell Harriss, a professor of economics at Columbia, describes economics as the study of the allocation of scarce goods and services.  In market economies, this is determined by [[supply and demand]].<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/business/13every.html?em&ex=1216440000&en=a9a6d3e97f11545f&ei=5087%0A Lessons in Love, by Way of Economics]</ref>

==Why we should study it==

==Why it should be studied==

* Feelings pertaining to the alleged chaos of economic activity rest on ignorance of the knowledge economics provides of the benevolent role of such institutions as the [[division of labor]], [[private ownership]] of the [[means of production]], [[exchange and money]], [[economic competition]], and the [[price system]]. [http://www.capitalism.net/Capitalism/Economics%20and%20Capitalism.htm]

* Feelings pertaining to the alleged chaos of economic activity rest on ignorance of the knowledge economics provides of the benevolent role of such institutions as the [[division of labor]], [[private ownership]] of the [[means of production]], [[exchange and money]], [[economic competition]], and the [[price system]].<ref name="capitalism.net">http://www.capitalism.net/Capitalism/Economics%20and%20Capitalism.htm</ref>

* The actual basis of "alienation" resides within the psychological makeup of those who experience the problem. Ignorance of economics reinforces feelings of [[alienation]] and allows the alleged deficiencies of the economic system to serve as a convenient rationalization for the existence of the problem [ibid]

* The actual basis of "alienation" resides within the psychological makeup of those who experience the problem. Ignorance of economics reinforces feelings of [[alienation]] and allows the alleged deficiencies of the economic system to serve as a convenient rationalization for the existence of the problem [ibid]

* [[Prepper]]s and [[survivalist]]s study economics to aid in being prepared for any potential [[depression]], [[recession]] or [[economic crash]].

* [[Prepper]]s and [[survivalist]]s study economics to aid in being prepared for any potential [[depression]], [[recession]] or [[economic crash]].

{{Main|History of economics}}

{{Main|History of economics}}

Economic thought originated with the rise of the state.  Classical economics, or the long-run model, was articulated by [[Adam Smith]] and has since fomented the rise of free-market capitalism in economic thought.<ref>http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/</ref>

Economic thought originated with the rise of the state.  Classical economics, or the long-run model, was articulated by [[Adam Smith]] and has since fomented the rise of free-market capitalism in economic thought.<ref>http://cepa.newschool.edu/het</ref>

==Quotes==

==Quotes==