All Life Is Economics

All of life is Economics. No matter what you do, you are applying economics. Economics is "the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Greek for oikos (house) and nomos (custom or law), hence "rules of the house(hold)." A definition that captures much of modern economics is that of Lionel Robbins in a 1932 essay: "the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.""(Wikipedia) This brings us to the topic of scarcity.

Everything is scarce in modern society. For something to be scarce means that there is not enough of it for everyone to have as much of it as they want. Of course, this is an economic term and only applies to services and tangible goods, not emotions or memories. We often refer to scarcity in the terms of there being very few of something. Lets use cell pones as an example. There could be enough cell phones for every person in the world to have one million each. However there will always be one spoiled brat who isn't satisfied with just a million.

In my life right now, it is so easy for me to see so many examples of how all of life is economics. I work at Starbucks, where I provide a service and customers receive a tangible good, and therefore so do I. I am also a student who plans on attending college next year. I will have to pay money to get a degree so i can be an elementary teacher. Therefore, I am giving up alot of money so that I may apply and get a good job at various private schools. Economics is all about decisions.

You must always make choices regarding the things that are most important to you because of this scarcity, or supply-in-demand. There will never be enough tangible goods or services to please every single person. Things are always in demand. But that is the only way economics can work, survive, and improve.

Economics is so important to our daily lives. We make choices in everything and people make choices for us. It all depends on what is important to us. If we say more money later is more important than more money now, that is economics. If you would rather have a big expensive truck than a decent house, that is economics. Even choosing between a venti and a tall latte is economics. It all depends on what is important to you personally and what you want to spend your money on. But no matter which way you choose, it proves that all life truly is economics.