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SOK-3551 Basic Economics

Autumn 2004

Introduction
Economics is the social science studying the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. It describes them in terms of the tradeoffs between competing alternatives as observed through measurable quantities such as input, price and output.

Economics is said to be positive when it attempts to explain the consequences of different choices given a set of assumptions and normative when it prescribes a certain route of action.

See also: the Wikipedia article on Economics