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What is Economics?

Find out the 'why' and shape tomorrow's society...

Economics investigates human behaviour and its consequences in a world with scarce resources. Families, businesses and all of society face the same problems: so much we want to do but so little time and not enough resources. Economics is about how we choose.

Economics is a way of understanding our society and community and how they interact to form “The Economy”. It offers insight into the ways in which businesses are structured and compete, and the ways in which people interact and make decisions.

Economics considers the criteria we use to meet these challenges by considering costs and benefits and how to measure them. Economics provides a framework for decision making and is also about how to design institutions that help us make decisions and ensure that our decisions are 'good' from a social viewpoint.

• Will an increase in taxes stimulate the economy?
• Will a fall in the value of a currency cause interest rates to rise?
• What causes inequality in the distribution of wealth?

• How do people and firms react to economic incentives such as goods and prices, taxes, different legal rules or market structure?
• What does this imply for the wellbeing (welfare) of people?

• What happens when the sale of certain drugs is made illegal?
• Commercial pressures leading to species extinction
• Power generation and pricing
• The pricing of commercial fishing licenses
• The control of pollution
• Why do concerts become ‘sell-outs’?