Economics

Economics (from the Greek οίκος , 'house', and νομος , 'rule', hence "household management") is a social science that studies the production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services. Economics is said to be positive when it tries to objectively predict and explain consequences of choices, given a set of assumptions or a set of observations. The choice of which assumptions to make in building a model as well as which observations to highlight, however, is a normative choice. Economics is also said to be normative when it recommends one choice over another, or when a subjective value judgement is made.

Further reading

• An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (abridged version) (Originally published in 1776)
• There's Something About Macro by Paul Krugman - a brief introduction to macroeconomics.
• Nature of Things by Jean-Baptiste Say - an essay in which Say claims that economics isn't an ethical system that one can simply refute on the basis that one doesn't accept its values: it is a collection of theories and models that explain inductively found principles.