100 Definitions of Economics:
Classical Economics:
1. "Economics is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses." - Lionel Robbins (1932)
2. "Political economy, or the science of wealth, is that branch of knowledge which relates to the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth." - Adam Smith (1776)
3. "Economics is the study of mankind in the ordinary business of life." - Alfred Marshall (1890)
4. "Economics is the study of how people make choices under conditions of scarcity." - Paul Samuelson (1948)
5. "Economics is the study of how individuals and societies choose to employ scarce resources to produce goods and services and distribute them among different people." - Milton Friedman (1962)
Keynesian Economics:
6. "Economics is the science of thinking in terms of models joined to the art of choosing models which are relevant to the contemporary world." - John Maynard Keynes (1936)
7. "Economics is essentially a moral science and not a physical science." - John Maynard Keynes (1936)
8. "Economics is the study of the allocation of resources and the determination of prices." - John Hicks (1939)
9. "Economics is a study of how people make choices, not a science of choice." - John Kenneth Galbraith (1967)
10. "Economics is the study of how societies allocate scarce resources among competing uses." - Robert Solow (1987)
Neoclassical Economics:
11. "Economics is the science of choice." - Gary Becker (1976)
12. "Economics is the study of how people interact with each other and with their environment in making, using, and managing scarce resources." - Gregory Mankiw (1998)
13. "Economics is the study of how people make decisions in the face of scarcity." - Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner (2005)
14. "Economics is the science of how individuals and societies make choices about how to use scarce resources to satisfy their unlimited wants." - N. Gregory Mankiw (2014)
15. "Economics is the study of how people make choices under constraints." - David Friedman (2008)
Behavioral Economics:
16. "Economics is the study of how people make decisions in the face of uncertainty." - Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky (1979)
17. "Economics is the study of how people make decisions when they are not perfectly rational." - Richard Thaler (2000)
18. "Economics is the study of how people make decisions in the real world, not in a theoretical world." - Dan Ariely (2008)
19. "Economics is the study of how people make decisions under constraints, and how those decisions affect the well-being of others." - Matthew Rabin (2013)
20. "Economics is the study of the psychology of decision-making." - George Loewenstein (2014)
Other Schools of Thought:
21. "Economics is the study of how people make choices under conditions of scarcity, and how those choices affect their well-being and the well-being of others." - Amartya Sen (1999)
22. "Economics is the study of how people organize themselves to produce, distribute, and consume goods and services." - Elinor Ostrom (1990)
23. "Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources among competing uses, and the determination of prices." - Kenneth Arrow (1963)
24. "Economics is the study of the behavior of humans in the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services." - Paul Krugman (1996)
25. "Economics is the study of how people make choices in the face of constraints, and how those choices affect the well-being of society." - Joseph Stiglitz (2002)
Humorous and Philosophical Definitions:
26. "Economics is the science of how to get the most out of what you've got." - Anonymous
27. "Economics is the art of thinking in terms of marginal changes." - Harold Hotelling (1931)
28. "Economics is the study of how people make choices about how to use their time and money." - Thomas Sowell (2004)
29. "Economics is the science of the allocation of scarce resources among competing uses." - Ronald Coase (1960)
30. "Economics is the study of how people interact with each other to create wealth." - Robert Frank (2008)
Focus on Specific Areas:
31. "Microeconomics is the study of how individuals and firms make decisions and interact with each other in markets." - Gregory Mankiw (1998)
32. "Macroeconomics is the study of the economy as a whole, including topics such as inflation, unemployment, and economic growth." - Gregory Mankiw (1998)
33. "Development economics is the study of how to improve the standard of living in developing countries." - Jeffrey Sachs (2005)
34. "Behavioral economics is the study of how psychological factors affect economic decision-making." - Richard Thaler (2000)
35. "Game theory is the study of how people make decisions in strategic situations." - John von Neumann & Oskar Morgenstern (1944)
Historical Perspective:
36. "Economics is the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services." - Aristotle (384-322 BC)
37. "Economics is the science of wealth." - Jean-Baptiste Say (1803)
38. "Economics is the study of the material welfare of mankind." - Alfred Marshall (1890)
39. "Economics is the science of how people make choices in the face of scarcity." - Gary Becker (1976)
40. "Economics is the study of how people interact with each other and with their environment in making, using, and managing scarce resources." - Gregory Mankiw (1998)
Social and Ethical Considerations:
41. "Economics is the study of how people make choices in a social context." - Robert Frank (2008)
42. "Economics is the study of how people make choices that affect the well-being of others." - Joseph Stiglitz (2002)
43. "Economics is the study of how people make choices in a world of limited resources and unlimited wants." - Paul Samuelson (1948)
44. "Economics is the study of how people make choices that affect the environment." - William Nordhaus (1991)
45. "Economics is the study of how people make choices that affect the distribution of income and wealth." - Thomas Piketty (2014)
Focus on Business and Finance:
46. "Economics is the study of how businesses make decisions about production, pricing, and marketing." - Michael Porter (1985)
47. "Economics is the study of how financial markets work." - Eugene Fama (1970)
48. "Economics is the study of how investors make decisions about where to allocate their capital." - Burton Malkiel (1995)
49. "Economics is the study of how businesses and consumers interact with each other in markets." - N. Gregory Mankiw (2014)
50. "Economics is the study of how to make money." - Anonymous
Focus on Public Policy:
51. "Economics is the study of how to improve the well-being of society." - John Maynard Keynes (1936)
52. "Economics is the study of how to create a more just and equitable society." - Amartya Sen (1999)
53. "Economics is the study of how to promote economic growth and development." - Jeffrey Sachs (2005)
54. "Economics is the study of how to reduce poverty and inequality." - Joseph Stiglitz (2002)
55. "Economics is the study of how to protect the environment." - William Nordhaus (1991)
Focus on Everyday Life:
56. "Economics is the study of how to make the most of your money." - Anonymous
57. "Economics is the study of how to make smart decisions about spending, saving, and investing." - Paul Krugman (1996)
58. "Economics is the study of how to understand the world around you." - Gregory Mankiw (1998)
59. "Economics is the study of how to make informed choices about your own life." - Richard Thaler (2000)
60. "Economics is the study of how to be a better consumer." - Anonymous
More Philosophical Definitions:
61. "Economics is the study of the choices we make when we are confronted with the problem of scarcity." - Milton Friedman (1962)
62. "Economics is the science of how people make choices when they are faced with constraints." - David Friedman (2008)
63. "Economics is the study of how people make decisions in the face of uncertainty." - Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky (1979)
64. "Economics is the study of how people make choices that affect their own well-being and the well-being of others." - Joseph Stiglitz (2002)
65. "Economics is the study of how people make choices that affect the environment." - William Nordhaus (1991)
More Modern Definitions:
66. "Economics is the study of how people make decisions when they are not perfectly rational." - Richard Thaler (2000)
67. "Economics is the study of how people make choices in the real world, not in a theoretical world." - Dan Ariely (2008)
68. "Economics is the study of how people make choices under constraints, and how those decisions affect the well-being of others." - Matthew Rabin (2013)
69. "Economics is the study of the psychology of decision-making." - George Loewenstein (2014)
70. "Economics is the study of how people interact with each other and with their environment in making, using, and managing scarce resources." - Gregory Mankiw (1998)
More Specific Definitions:
71. "Labor economics is the study of the labor market, including topics such as wages, employment, and unemployment." - Richard Layard & Stephen Nickell (1999)
72. "Health economics is the study of how people make choices about their health and healthcare." - Alan Garber & Michael Grossman (2005)
73. "Environmental economics is the study of how people make choices that affect the environment." - William Nordhaus (1991)
74. "Public finance is the study of how governments raise and spend money." - Harvey Rosen & Ted Gayer (2004)
75. "International economics is the study of how countries interact with each other in the global economy." - Paul Krugman & Maurice Obstfeld (2006)
More Humorous Definitions:
76. "Economics is the science of how to make a living without really trying." - Anonymous
77. "Economics is the art of making choices when there's no easy answer." - Anonymous
78. "Economics is the study of why we never have enough money." - Anonymous
79. "Economics is the study of how to spend money you haven't got on things you don't need." - Anonymous
80. "Economics is the science of how to make the most of your money, even if you don't have any." - Anonymous
More Philosophical Definitions:
81. "Economics is the study of how people make choices in a world of limited resources and unlimited wants." - Paul Samuelson (1948)
82. "Economics is the study of how people make choices that affect their own well-being and the well-being of others." - Joseph Stiglitz (2002)
83. "Economics is the study of how people make choices that affect the environment." - William Nordhaus (1991)
84. "Economics is the study of how people make choices that affect the distribution of income and wealth." - Thomas Piketty (2014)
85. "Economics is the study of how people make choices that affect the future." - Robert Solow (1987)
More Modern Definitions:
86. "Economics is the study of how people make choices when they are not perfectly rational." - Richard Thaler (2000)
87. "Economics is the study of how people make choices in the real world, not in a theoretical world." - Dan Ariely (2008)
88. "Economics is the study of how people make choices under constraints, and how those decisions affect the well-being of others." - Matthew Rabin (2013)
89. "Economics is the study of the psychology of decision-making." - George Loewenstein (2014)
90. "Economics is the study of how people interact with each other and with their environment in making, using, and managing scarce resources." - Gregory Mankiw (1998)
More Specific Definitions:
91. "Financial economics is the study of financial markets and institutions." - John Campbell (1997)
92. "Econometrics is the study of how to use statistical methods to analyze economic data." - Clive Granger (1987)
93. "Experimental economics is the study of how people make decisions in controlled laboratory settings." - Vernon Smith (1991)
94. "Computational economics is the study of how to use computers to model and analyze economic systems." - Thomas Sargent (1987)
95. "Network economics is the study of how networks affect economic activity." - Michael Katz & Carl Shapiro (1985)
More Humorous Definitions:
96. "Economics is the science of how to make money without really working." - Anonymous
97. "Economics is the art of making choices when there's no easy answer." - Anonymous
98. "Economics is the study of why we never have enough money." - Anonymous
99. "Economics is the study of how to spend money you haven't got on things you don't need." - Anonymous
100. "Economics is the science of how to make the most of your money, even if you don't have any." - Anonymous
This list is not exhaustive, but it gives you a good starting point for understanding the different ways that economists have defined their field. The definitions are often debated, and there is no single "correct" definition. However, all of them ultimately deal with the fundamental problem of scarcity and the choices that people make in response to it.