The Science of Economics was born with the publication of Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the nature and causes of wealth of nations in the year 1776. Adam Smith is known as the father of Economics. At its birth, the name of economics was “Political Economy”.
Towards the end of the 19th century there was a definite change from use of word “Political Economy’ to “Economics”.
The words ‘Economics’ was derived from two Greek words oikou ( A House) and nomos (to manage). Thus , the word economics was used to mean home management with limited funds available in the most economical manner possible.
Lionel Robbins defines economics as a science of scarcity. Prof. Robbins in his book Nature and significant of Economics Science States, ” Economics is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternatives uses.”
Paul A. Samuelson defines economics as ” the study of how men and society choose, with or without the use of money, to employ scarce productive resources which could have alternatives uses, to produce various commodities over time and distribute them for consumption now and in future among various people and groups of society.” This definitions emphasizes growth over time. It is modern and wider in scope. The definition takes into account consumption, production, distribution and exchange of goods. Hence, it is most satisfactory definition of economics. This definition has been accepted universally.
—Adam Smith is known as the father of Economics.
–Economics:
It is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scare means which have alternatives uses. – Robbins
It is the study of how men and society choose, with or without the use of money, to employ scarce productive resources which could have alternatives uses, to produce various commodities over time and distribute them for consumption now and in future among various people and groups of society. – Samuelson
