As the year begins I am shortening my definition of economics. The one that has been on the sidebar is fine but there is no point in keeping it if I can say the same thing in fewer words.
Economics is the study of how self interest manifests through the human race.
To that much can be added, but that is the essence of the discipline because self interest is part of every human interaction. If it wasn’t, our species would have become extinct eons ago. For everyone who loves their mother, you wouldn’t be here to love her if she had not on balance put herself first. She would not have lived long enough to give birth to you.
An economics professor might say it can be described as limited resources versus unlimited wants. My definition is the correct one. The others leave out non financial transactions such as trading freedom for comfort. In trading freedom for comfort, money does not necessarily change hands and is seldom does. This is actually the most common transaction that is made withing the human race. Economics is concerned first with survival of the species and self interest is the guiding incentive.
The mush is not necessary and I leave it out. There is nothing untrue about official definitions of economics. They are just lacking in scope and thus fail to consider the most basic elements that are the true root of causation.