Hi, Flat Donald, how are you today? Oh I am doing fine. I’m very happy that you can see me in such a short notice.
So you want to talk to me, what do you want to talk to me about? Well, I want to know what economics is all about and what can I do with economics?
Oh, Flat Donald, that is a very wonderful question and a very important question. As a matter of fact, economics is about making decisions under the conditions of scarcity. What is scarcity?
Well, scarcity means that we had limited resources such as materials, such as machinery, such as time. And so, because we have limited resources we can only produce so many goods and services. So you cannot have everything and you have to make choices about what you want.
So in making the decision, there are several things you’ve got to think about. For example you’ve got to think about what is the benefits of your action and what are the costs? And you have to assess trade off between the benefit and the cost. And you want to pursue an action only if the benefit is greater than the cost.
Another thing we want to pay attention to is the difference between needs and wants. Wants are something you can say no to and needs are something you cannot say no to. For example we need food, we need education, we need air. Economics is also very useful on a personal level.
So what can you do with economics? Well, economics is everywhere and so because it is everywhere, there’s a wide range of professions that require economics. For example, with economics training you can work for government, and you can work for non-profit organization, you can work for bank, you can work for company, you can study environment, you can study international relations and how to make peace with other countries, and you can even learn how to run your farms and your business firms. There are just many, many potentials.
So, you have to think about a cost, you have to think about a benefit of an action, of a policy, and you have to understand that economics is everywhere. E I E: Economics Is Everywhere.