What is the word economy means

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the word in goods and services meaning. For other uses, see Economy (disambiguation).

Gross domestic product per capita of countries (2020)

  •   >50,000
  •   35,000–50,000
  •   20,000–35,000
  •   10,000–20,000
  •   5,000–10,000
  •   2,000–5,000
  •   <2,000
  •   Data unavailable

An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the production, use, and management of scarce resources.[1] A given economy is a set of processes that involves its culture, values, education, technological evolution, history, social organization, political structure, legal systems, and natural resources as main factors. These factors give context, content, and set the conditions and parameters in which an economy functions. In other words, the economic domain is a social domain of interrelated human practices and transactions that does not stand alone.

Economic agents can be individuals, businesses, organizations, or governments. Economic transactions occur when two groups or parties agree to the value or price of the transacted good or service, commonly expressed in a certain currency. However, monetary transactions only account for a small part of the economic domain.

Economic activity is spurred by production which uses natural resources, labor and capital. It has changed over time due to technology, innovation (new products, services, processes, expanding markets, diversification of markets, niche markets, increases revenue functions) such as, that which produces intellectual property and changes in industrial relations (most notably child labor being replaced in some parts of the world with universal access to education).

Etymology

The word economy in English is derived from the Middle French’s yconomie, which itself derived from the Medieval Latin’s oeconomia. The Latin word has its origin at the Ancient Greek’s oikonomia or oikonomos. The word’s first part oikos means «house», and the second part nemein means «to manage».[2]

The most frequently used current sense, denoting «the economic system of a country or an area», seems not to have developed until the 1650s.[3]

History

Earliest roots

see caption

Ancient Roman mosaic from Bosra, depicting a merchant leading camels through the desert

As long as someone has been making, supplying and distributing goods or services, there has been some sort of economy; economies grew larger as societies grew and became more complex. Sumer developed a large-scale economy based on commodity money, while the Babylonians and their neighboring city states later developed the earliest system of economics as we think of, in terms of rules/laws on debt, legal contracts and law codes relating to business practices, and private property.[4]

The Babylonians and their city state neighbors developed forms of economics comparable to currently used civil society (law) concepts. They developed the first known codified legal and administrative systems, complete with courts, jails, and government records.[5]

The ancient economy was mainly based on subsistence farming.[6] The Shekel are the first to refer to a unit of weight and currency, used by the Semitic peoples. The first usage of the term came from Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC. and referred to a specific mass of barley which related other values in a metric such as silver, bronze, copper, etc. A barley/shekel was originally both a unit of currency and a unit of weight, just as the British Pound was originally a unit denominating a one-pound mass of silver.[7]

For most people, the exchange of goods occurred through social relationships. There were also traders who bartered in the marketplaces. In Ancient Greece, where the present English word ‘economy’ originated,[2] many people were bond slaves of the freeholders.[8] The economic discussion was driven by scarcity.[citation needed]

Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, what is now known as an economy was not far from the subsistence level. Most exchange occurred within social groups. On top of this, the great conquerors raised what we now call venture capital (from ventura, ital.; risk) to finance their captures. The capital should be refunded by the goods they would bring up in the New World. The discoveries of Marco Polo (1254–1324), Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) and Vasco da Gama (1469–1524) led to a first global economy. The first enterprises were trading establishments. In 1513, the first stock exchange was founded in Antwerp. Economy at the time meant primarily trade.

The European captures became branches of the European states, the so-called colonies. The rising nation-states Spain, Portugal, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands tried to control the trade through custom duties and mercantilism (from mercator, lat.: merchant) was a first approach to intermediate between private wealth and public interest. The secularization in Europe allowed states to use the immense property of the church for the development of towns. The influence of the nobles decreased. The first Secretaries of State for economy started their work. Bankers like Amschel Mayer Rothschild (1773–1855) started to finance national projects such as wars and infrastructure. Economy from then on meant national economy as a topic for the economic activities of the citizens of a state.

Industrial Revolution

The first economist in the true modern meaning of the word was the Scotsman Adam Smith (1723–1790) who was inspired partly by the ideas of physiocracy, a reaction to mercantilism and also later Economics student, Adam Mari.[9] He defined the elements of a national economy: products are offered at a natural price generated by the use of competition — supply and demand — and the division of labor. He maintained that the basic motive for free trade is human self-interest. The so-called self-interest hypothesis became the anthropological basis for economics. Thomas Malthus (1766–1834) transferred the idea of supply and demand to the problem of overpopulation.

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions starting in the United Kingdom, then subsequently spreading throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world.[10] The onset of the Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way.
In Europe wild capitalism started to replace the system of mercantilism (today: protectionism) and led to economic growth. The period today is called industrial revolution because the system of Production, production and division of labor enabled the mass production of goods.

20th century

The contemporary concept of «the economy» wasn’t popularly known until the American Great Depression in the 1930s.[11]

After the chaos of two World Wars and the devastating Great Depression, policymakers searched for new ways of controlling the course of the economy.[citation needed] This was explored and discussed by Friedrich August von Hayek (1899–1992) and Milton Friedman (1912–2006) who pleaded for a global free trade and are supposed to be the fathers of the so-called neoliberalism.[12][13] However, the prevailing view was that held by John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946), who argued for a stronger control of the markets by the state. The theory that the state can alleviate economic problems and instigate economic growth through state manipulation of aggregate demand is called Keynesianism in his honor.[14] In the late 1950s, the economic growth in America and Europe—often called Wirtschaftswunder (ger: economic miracle) —brought up a new form of economy: mass consumption economy. In 1958, John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) was the first to speak of an affluent society in his book The Affluent Society.[citation needed] In most of the countries the economic system is called a social market economy.[15]

21st century

see caption

With the fall of the Iron Curtain and the transition of the countries of the Eastern Bloc towards democratic government and market economies, the idea of the post-industrial society is brought into importance as its role is to mark together the significance that the service sector receives instead of industrialization. Some attribute the first use of this term to Daniel Bell’s 1973 book, The Coming of Post-Industrial Society, while others attribute it to social philosopher Ivan Illich’s book, Tools for Conviviality. The term is also applied in philosophy to designate the fading of postmodernism in the late 90s and especially in the beginning of the 21st century.

With the spread of Internet as a mass media and communication medium especially after 2000–2001, the idea for the Internet and information economy is given place because of the growing importance of e-commerce and electronic businesses, also the term for a global information society as understanding of a new type of «all-connected» society is created. In the late 2000s, the new type of economies and economic expansions of countries like China, Brazil, and India bring attention and interest to different from the usually dominating Western type economies and economic models.

Elements

Types

A market economy is one where goods and services are produced and exchanged according to demand and supply between participants (economic agents) by barter or a medium of exchange with a credit or debit value accepted within the network, such as a unit of currency.[16] A planned economy is one where political agents directly control what is produced and how it is sold and distributed.[17] A green economy is low-carbon and resource efficient. In a green economy, growth in income and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.[18] A gig economy is one in which short-term jobs are assigned or chosen on-demand. The global economy refers to humanity’s economic system or systems overall.[citation needed] An informal economy is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government.[19]

Sectors

The economy may be considered as having developed through the following phases or degrees of precedence:[according to whom?]

  • The ancient economy was mainly based on subsistence farming.
  • The industrial revolution phase lessened the role of subsistence farming, converting it to more extensive and mono-cultural forms of agriculture in the last three centuries. The economic growth took place mostly in mining, construction and manufacturing industries. Commerce became more significant due to the need for improved exchange and distribution of produce throughout the community.
  • In the economies of modern consumer societies phase there is a growing part played by services, finance, and technology—the knowledge economy.

In modern economies, these phase precedences are somewhat differently expressed by the three-sector model:[20]

  • Primary: Involves the extraction and production of raw materials, such as corn, coal, wood and iron.
  • Secondary: Involves the transformation of raw or intermediate materials into goods e.g. manufacturing steel into cars, or textiles into clothing.
  • Tertiary: Involves the provision of services to consumers and businesses, such as baby-sitting, cinema and banking.

Other sectors of the developed community include:

  • the public sector or state sector (which usually includes: parliament, law-courts and government centers, various emergency services, public health, shelters for impoverished and threatened people, transport facilities, air/sea ports, post-natal care, hospitals, schools, libraries, museums, preserved historical buildings, parks/gardens, nature-reserves, some universities, national sports grounds/stadiums, national arts/concert-halls or theaters and centers for various religions).
  • the private sector or privately run businesses.
  • the voluntary sector or social sector.[21]

Indicators

The gross domestic product (GDP) of a country is a measure of the size of its economy, or more specifically, monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced.[22] The most conventional economic analysis of a country relies heavily on economic indicators like the GDP and GDP per capita. While often useful, GDP only includes economic activity for which money is exchanged.[citation needed]

Due to the growing importance of the financial sector in modern times,[23] the term real economy is used by analysts[24][25] as well as politicians[26] to denote the part of the economy that is concerned with the actual production of goods and services,[27] as ostensibly contrasted with the paper economy, or the financial side of the economy,[28] which is concerned with buying and selling on the financial markets. Alternate and long-standing terminology distinguishes measures of an economy expressed in real values (adjusted for inflation), such as real GDP, or in nominal values (unadjusted for inflation).[29]

Studies

The study of economics are roughly divided into macroeconomics and microeconomics.[30] Today, the range of fields of study examining the economy revolves around the social science of economics,[31][32] but may also include sociology,[33] history,[34] anthropology,[35] and geography.[36] Practical fields directly related to the human activities involving production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services as a whole are business,[37] engineering,[38] government,[39] and health care.[40]

See also

  • Economic history
  • Economic system

References

  1. ^ James, Paul; with Magee, Liam; Scerri, Andy; Steger, Manfred B. (2015). Urban Sustainability in Theory and Practice: Circles of Sustainability. London: Routledge. p. 53. ISBN 9781315765747. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  2. ^ a b «economy». Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  3. ^ Dictionary.com Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, «economy.» The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. October 24, 2009.
  4. ^ Sheila C. Dow (2005), «Axioms and Babylonian thought: a reply», Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 27 (3), p. 385-391.
  5. ^ Charles F. Horne, Ph.D. (1915). «The Code of Hammurabi : Introduction». Yale University. Archived from the original on September 8, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
  6. ^ Aragón, Fernando M.; Oteiza, Francisco; Rud, Juan Pablo (February 1, 2021). «Climate Change and Agriculture: Subsistence Farmers’ Response to Extreme Heat». American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. 13 (1): 1–35. arXiv:1902.09204. doi:10.1257/pol.20190316. ISSN 1945-7731. S2CID 85529687. Archived from the original on July 30, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  7. ^ Bronson, Bennet (November 1976), «Cash, Cannon, and Cowrie Shells: The Nonmodern Moneys of the World», Bulletin, vol. 47, Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, pp. 3–15.
  8. ^ G.E.M. de Ste. Croix, The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World (Cornell University Press, 1981), pp. 136–137, noting that economic historian Moses Finley maintained «serf» was an incorrect term to apply to the social structures of classical antiquity.
  9. ^ Quesnay, François. An Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World- preview entry:Physiocrats & physiocracy. Charles Scribner & Sons. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  10. ^ «Industrial History of European Countries». European Route of Industrial Heritage. Council of Europe. Archived from the original on June 23, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  11. ^ Goldstein, Jacob (February 28, 2014). «The Invention Of ‘The Economy’«. NPR — Planet Money. Archived from the original on May 5, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  12. ^ Taylor C. Boas, Jordan Gans-Morse (June 2009). «Neoliberalism: From New Liberal Philosophy to Anti-Liberal Slogan». Studies in Comparative International Development. 44 (2): 137–61. doi:10.1007/s12116-009-9040-5.
  13. ^ Springer, Simon; Birch, Kean; MacLeavy, Julie, eds. (2016). The Handbook of Neoliberalism. Routledge. p. 3. ISBN 978-1138844001. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  14. ^ «What Is Keynesian Economics? – Back to Basics – Finance & Development, September 2014». www.imf.org. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  15. ^ Koppstein, Jeffrey; Lichbach, Mark Irving (2005), Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, And Institutions In A Changing Global Order, Cambridge University Press, p. 156, ISBN 0-521-60395-1.
  16. ^ Gregory, Paul; Stuart, Robert (2004). Stuart, Robert C. (ed.). Comparing Economic Systems in the Twenty-First Century (7th ed.). Houghton Mifflin. p. 538. ISBN 978-0618261819. OCLC 53446988. Market Economy: Economy in which fundamentals of supply and demand provide signals regarding resource utilization.
  17. ^ Alec Nove (1987). «Planned Economy». The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics. vol. 3. p. 879.
  18. ^ Kahle, Lynn R.; Gurel-Atay, Eda, eds. (2014). Communicating Sustainability for the Green Economy. New York: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-7656-3680-5.
  19. ^ «In the shadows». The Economist. June 17, 2004. Archived from the original on July 31, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  20. ^ Kjeldsen-Kragh, Søren (2007). The Role of Agriculture in Economic Development: The Lessons of History. Copenhagen Business School Press DK. p. 73. ISBN 978-87-630-0194-6.
  21. ^ Potůček, Martin (1999). Not Only the Market: The Role of the Market, Government, and the Civic Sector. New York: Central European University Press. p. 34. ISBN 0-585-31675-9. OCLC 45729878.
  22. ^ «Gross Domestic Product | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)». www.bea.gov. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  23. ^ The volume of financial transactions in the 2008 global economy was 73.5 times higher than nominal world GDP, while, in 1990, this ratio amounted to «only» 15.3 («A General Financial Transaction Tax: A Short Cut of the Pros, the Cons and a Proposal» Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Austrian Institute for Economic Research, 2009)
  24. ^ «Meanwhile, in the Real Economy» Archived February 25, 2021, at the Wayback Machine Archived February 25, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, The Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2009
  25. ^ «Bank Regulation Should Serve Real Economy» Archived March 7, 2021, at the Wayback Machine Archived March 7, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, The Wall Street Journal, October 24, 2011
  26. ^ «Perry and Romney Trade Swipes Over ‘Real Economy'» Archived July 9, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Archived July 9, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, The Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2011
  27. ^ «Real Economy» Archived February 9, 2018, at the Wayback Machine definition in the Financial Times Lexicon
  28. ^ «Real economy» Archived November 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine definition in the Economic Glossary
  29. ^ • Deardorff’s Glossary of International Economics, search for real Archived January 19, 2022, at the Wayback Machine.
       • R. O’Donnell (1987). «real and nominal quantities,» The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 4, pp. 97-98.
  30. ^ Varian, Hal R. (1987). «Microeconomics». The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. pp. 1–5. doi:10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_1212-1. ISBN 978-1-349-95121-5.
  31. ^ Krugman, Paul; Wells, Robin (2012). Economics (3rd ed.). Worth Publishers. p. 2. ISBN 978-1464128738.
  32. ^ Backhouse, Roger (2002). The Penguin history of economics. London. ISBN 0-14-026042-0. OCLC 59475581. Archived from the original on July 30, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022. The boundaries of what constitutes economics are further blurred by the fact that economic issues are analysed not only by ‘economists’ but also by historians, geographers, ecologists, management scientists, and engineers.
  33. ^ Swedberg, Richard (2003). «The Classics in Economic Sociology» (PDF). Principles of Economic Sociology. Princeton University Press. pp. 1–31. ISBN 978-1400829378. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  34. ^ Blum, Matthias; Colvin, Christopher L. (2018), Blum, Matthias; Colvin, Christopher L. (eds.), «Introduction, or Why We Started This Project», An Economist’s Guide to Economic History, Palgrave Studies in Economic History, Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–10, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-96568-0_1, ISBN 978-3-319-96568-0
  35. ^ Chibnik, Michael (2011). Anthropology, Economics, and Choice (1st ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-73535-4. OCLC 773036705.
  36. ^ Clark, Gordon L.; Feldman, Maryann P.; Gertler, Meric S.; Williams, Kate (July 10, 2003). The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-925083-7. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  37. ^ Dielman, Terry E. (2001). Applied regression analysis for business and economics. Duxbury/Thomson Learning. ISBN 0-534-37955-9. OCLC 44118027.
  38. ^ Dharmaraj, E. (2010). Engineering Economics. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing House. ISBN 9789350432471. OCLC 1058341272.
  39. ^ King, David (2018). Fiscal Tiers: the economics of multi-level government. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-64813-5. OCLC 1020440881.
  40. ^ Tarricone, Rosanna (2006). «Cost-of-illness analysis». Health Policy. 77 (1): 51–63. doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2005.07.016. PMID 16139925.

Further reading

  • Friedman, Milton, Capitalism and Freedom, 1962.
  • Rothbard, Murray, Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Economic Principles, 1962.
  • Galbraith, John Kenneth, The Affluent Society, 1958.
  • Mises, Ludwig von, Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, 1949.
  • Keynes, John Maynard, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, 1936.
  • Marx, Karl, Das Kapital, 1867.
  • Smith, Adam, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776.

What Is an Economy?

An economy is a complex system of interrelated production, consumption, and exchange activities that ultimately determines how resources are allocated among all the participants. The production, consumption, and distribution of goods and services combine to fulfill the needs of those living and operating within the economy.

An economy may represent a nation, a region, a single industry, or even a family.

Key Takeaways

  • An economy is a system of inter-related production and consumption activities that ultimately determine the allocation of resources within a group.
  • The production and consumption of goods and services as a whole fulfill the needs of those living and operating within it.
  • Market-based economies, also called free market economies, are self-regulated, allowing goods to be produced and distributed in response to demand from consumers.
  • Command-based economies are regulated by a government body that determines the goods which are produced, their quantities, and the price paid for them.
  • In the modern world, few economies are purely market-based or command-based.

What’s the Economy?

Understanding Economies

An economy encompasses all of the activities related to the production, consumption, and trade of goods and services in an entity, whether the entity is a nation or a small town.

No two economies are identical. Each is formed according to its own resources, culture, laws, history, and geography. Each evolves according to the choices and actions of the participants.

These decisions are made through some combination of market transactions and collective or hierarchical decision-making.

Capitalism requires a market-based economy. Communism requires a command-based economy.

Types of Economies

In the modern world, few nations are purely market-based or purely command-based. But most lean toward one or the other of these models.

Market-Based Economies

Market-based or «free market» economies allow people and businesses to freely exchange goods and services according to supply and demand.

The United States is mostly a market economy. Producers determine what’s sold and produced, and what prices to charge. If they expect to succeed, they will produce what consumers want and charge what consumers are willing to pay.  

Through these decisions, the laws of supply and demand determine prices and total production. If consumer demand for a specific product increases, production tends to increase to satisfy the demand. The increased demand causes prices to rise until consumers balk and cut back on their purchases. Demand for the product will then decline and prices will decline with it.

This constant tug of supply and demand allows a market economy a tendency to naturally balance itself. As the prices in one sector rise with demand, the money and labor needed to fill that demand shift to those places where they’re needed.

Command-Based Economies

Command-based economies depend on a central government that controls the production levels, pricing, and distribution of goods.

In such a system, the government owns industries deemed essential on behalf of the consumers who use them. Competition among companies is discouraged or banned. Prices are controlled.

Communism requires a command-based economy. Contemporary examples include Cuba and North Korea.

A command-based economy attempts to supersede the workings of supply and demand.

Mixed Economies

Pure market economies rarely exist in the modern world since there’s usually some degree of government intervention or central planning. Even the United States could be considered a mixed economy. It may not mandate production but it has ways to influence it. For example:

  • In late 2021, President Joe Biden ordered 50 million gallons of oil released from the nation’s Strategic Oil Reserves with the stated aim of forcing gasoline prices lower by increasing its supply.
  • In 2022, the Federal Reserve imposed a series of interest rate increases on the nation’s banks. The purpose was to raise interest rates throughout the economy in order to reduce demand for loans and therefore reduce inflation in the costs of goods and services.

In truth, most of the world’s developed economies mix market-based and command-based models.

China had a command economy only until 1978 when it began a series of reforms that encouraged private enterprise.

Studying Economies

The study of economies and the factors affecting economies is called economics. The discipline of economics can be broken into two major areas of focus, microeconomics, and macroeconomics.

Microeconomics

Microeconomics studies the behavior of individual people and businesses in order to understand why they make the economic decisions they do and how these decisions affect the larger economic system.

Microeconomics studies how a particular value is attached to a product or service. It examines how individuals coordinate and cooperate with each other in business.

Microeconomics tends to focus on economic tendencies, such as how individual choices and actions impact changes in production.

Clearly, principles of psychology and marketing influence microeconomics.

Macroeconomics

As the name implies, macroeconomics studies the big picture.

Macroeconomics includes the study of economy-wide factors such as the effect of rising prices or inflation on the economy. It seeks to track and understand the financial indicators that clarify an economy’s success or failure over time, such as gross domestic product (GDP), changes in unemployment, and consumer spending.

In short, macroeconomics studies how the economy as a whole behaves.

Economic Indicators

As noted above, macroeconomics is the study of the big picture and that picture is incomplete without a set of economic indicators. These are some of the most closely-watched of those indicators.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Gross domestic product is the total value of all of the completed goods and services produced by an economy during a period of one year.

The gross domestic product of the United States was about $23 trillion in 2021.

Unemployment

The Unemployment Report estimates the number of people who are working for pay during a given period. More importantly, the number is tracked over time in order to determine whether unemployment is worsening.

In the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes a monthly unemployment report that breaks down how many people are working, the average number of hours they are working, and their average earnings. This is used to produce the unemployment rate.

Inflation (or Deflation)

Inflation in consumer prices is measured and tracked so that problems in the economy can be pinpointed. If the rate of inflation is outpacing the rate of income growth, the economy is in trouble. Inflation can be negative, too, but overall deflation is relatively rare.

The BLS also publishes a key inflation report for the U.S. The Consumer Price Index tracks the costs of goods and services from month to month. It breaks down its report into the vital areas of consumer spending, such as food, energy, and rent costs.

Those numbers determine the rate of inflation.

Balance of Trade

An economy’s balance of trade is a comparison of the amount of money that is spent on imports of goods and services and the amount of money it earns on goods and services it exports. It is measured primarily by recording all of the products that pass through the Customs office of a country.

A nation achieves a positive balance of trade when it exports more than it imports. It has a negative balance of trade when it buys more than it sells.

Neither is necessarily good or bad. A nation may have a negative balance of trade because foreign businesses are heavily investing in its future. A nation with a positive balance of trade may have protectionist policies in place that could hurt it in the long run.

The U.S. had a balance of trade deficit in 2021 of about $859.1 billion, up $182.4 billion from the previous year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

History of the Concept of Economy

The word economy derives from the Greek term for household management and the word is still used in that context.

Economics as an area of study was touched on by philosophers in ancient Greece, notably Aristotle, but the modern study of economics began in 18th century Europe, particularly in Scotland and France.

Development of Modern Economics

The Scottish philosopher and economist Adam Smith, who in 1776 wrote a landmark book called The Wealth of Nations, was thought of in his own time as a moral philosopher. He and his contemporaries traced the evolution of economies from prehistoric bartering systems to money-driven and eventually credit-driven economies. 

During the 19th century, the development of technology and the growth of international trade created stronger ties among countries, a process that accelerated into the Great Depression and World War II. After 50 years of the Cold War, the late 20th and early 21st centuries have seen a renewed globalization of economies.

What Is Economics?

Economics is a branch of the sciences that seeks to understand the way a population functions by studying the way its economy functions. Every group of people develops a survival plan based on shared labor and resources. How they do that, and how well they succeed at it, is the study of economics.

What Is Macroeconomics vs. Microeconomics?

Macroeconomics is the study of the overall performance of an economy. It evaluates the stability and progress of an economy over time by analysis of key indicators. These include gross domestic product (GDP), employment, inflation or deflation, and the balance of trade.

Micronomics is the study of the behavior of the individual consumers and businesses that make up the economy. Their motivations, habits, and behaviors are studied to determine whether an economy is functioning in their best interests.

What Is Economics in Real Life?

All of us participate in an economy, with the possible exception of a hermit living on a desert island. We contribute something to the whole, by producing or helping to produce a product or offering a service. In return, we receive money that allows us to buy the goods and services that we can’t produce for ourselves.

The Bottom Line

An economy is a community that is observed by an analysis of its allocation of resources. Every individual and family in the community has a contribution to make. In return, each expects a share of the goods and services provided by other members of the community.

In modern times, the functioning of an economy is analyzed and quantified by economists.

What Is The Meaning Of Economy?

The Meaning Of Economy In English,

The meaning economy is the careful use of money, resources, and means of production. The economy also means the system of how payment is made and used within a particular country or region.

A region's Economy is connected with things like what percentage products and services are created and the way abundant cash individuals will pay on these items.

Economies make (produce products). We measure savings by how much they make or Gross Domestic Product. An economy could be a system of organizations and establishments that either facilitate or play a job within the production and distribution of products and services during a society.

Savings determine how resources are distributed among members of an organization; they learn the value of products or services, and they even determine what sorts of things can be traded or bartered for those services and goods.

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What Are The Synonyms Of Economy?

Synonyms Of Economy Are:

  • saving
  • business
  • economic
  • economies
  • financial situation

What Are The Antonyms Of Economy?

Antonyms Of Economy Are:

  • waste
  • spending
  • improvidence

Related Words Of Economy Are:

  • economic circumstances
  • economic situation
  • economic status
  • providence
  • scrimping
  • economic position
  • economic performance

What Is The Noun Form Of Economy?

Noun Form Of Economy Is:

  • economy

What Is The Verb Form Of Economy?

Verb Form Of Economy Is:

  • economically

What Is The Adjective Of Economy?

Adjective Of Economy Is:

  • economical

FAQ

What Is The Best Meaning Of Economics?

Economics is the study of scarcity and how it affects the use of resources, the production of goods and services, the growth of production and well-being over time, and many other important and complicated issues that affect society.

What Is The Simple Meaning Of Economy?

Britannica Dictionary definition of ECONOMY. 1. [count] : the process or system by which goods and services are produced, sold, and bought in a country or region.

What Is An Example Of Economy?

A prominent example of an economy is the traditional economy that encompasses the customs and history of a nation to guide production and distribution of goods. Traditional economies are mostly based on agriculture, fishing, and hunting.

How Does Economy Work?

Economics is the study of how individuals and groups allocate limited resources to be used for production, distribution, and consumption. It is usually broken down into macroeconomics, which looks at the broad economy, and microeconomics, which looks at individual people and businesses.

Examples Of Using The Word Economy Are:

  1. The outside migration of people from the city has adversely affected the city’s economy greatly.
  2. The article inspects various instances of such strategies, not only for companies operating in an investor economy but also for companies based in countries that keep a traditional economy.
  3. It was a study on building political freedom through maintaining inherited knowledge and the traditional economy.
  4. The book allocates extensively with the traditional economy, the structure of Dene Kinship and its role in social companies.
  5. It is suggested that the creative economy works through a procedure of cultural diffusion, for which a conceptual apprehension of cultural diffusion is outlined.
  6. The economy has been exhausted by the appropriation of the country’s resources by dishonest officials.
  7. The new governor gives assurance to work to revive the state’s rigid economy.
  8. He notified that such measures could cause the economy to subside.
  9. A heritage economy is a system where heritages, customs, belief systems, and inheritance determine the answer to the three economic queries.
  10. It has become commonplace in today’s world that intellectual property rights have taken the place of connection to commodities in the traditional economy.
  11. Most people blame the government for the country’s aggravating economy issues.

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Meaning of Economy and Definition of Economy

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Content

  • What is economy:
  • Microeconomics and macroeconomics
  • Mixed economy
  • Political economy
  • Submerged economy
  • Informal economy
  • Underground economy

What is economy:

The economy is a social science that studies the processes of extraction, production, exchange, distribution and consumption of goods and services. In a figurative sense, economy means rule and moderation of expenses; saving.

The word economy comes from Latin oeconomy, and this in turn from the Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomy), which is derived from the union of the Greek terms οἶκος (oíkos), which means ‘house’, νόμος (nómos), ‘norm’.

The concept of economy encompasses the notion of how societies use scarce resources to produce goods with value, and how they distribute goods among individuals.

The scarcity of resources suggests the idea that material resources are limited and it is not possible to produce an infinite quantity of goods, taking into account that human wants and needs are unlimited and insatiable.

The resources are actually sufficient, but the administration is currently being wrong. Gandhi once said: «There is enough on Earth to satisfy the needs of all, but not enough to satisfy the greed of some.»

Based on this principle, economics observes human behavior as a result of the relationship between human needs and the resources available to satisfy those needs.

The science of economics tries to explain the functioning of economic systems and the relationships with economic agents (companies or individuals), reflecting on existing problems and proposing solutions.

Thus, the investigation of the main economic problems and decision-making are based on four fundamental questions about production: what to produce? When to produce? How much to produce? For whom to produce?

See also 7 key characteristics of globalization and Cycle.

Microeconomics and macroeconomics

In economics, two branches are fundamentally distinguished: microeconomics and macroeconomics. The microeconomics studies the various forms of behavior in the individual decisions of economic agents (companies, employees and consumers), while the macroeconomy analyzes microeconomic processes, observing the economy as a whole and with added variables (total production, inflation rates, unemployment, wages, etc.).

See also Microeconomics and Macroeconomics.

Mixed economy

What Mixed economy The economic system is known that combines elements of the planned or directed economy, which obeys the objectives and limits imposed by the State, and of the free market economy. Likewise, this is also the name of the economic model in which the private property of capitalism and the collective property of socialism coexist.

Political economy

The concept of political economy it arose in the seventeenth century to refer to the relations of production between the three main social classes of the moment: bourgeois, landlords and proletarians.

Unlike the economic theory of physiocracy, according to which land is the origin of wealth, political economy proposed that, in reality, labor was the real source of value, from which the theory of value was derived. job.

The concept of political economy was put aside in the 19th century, replaced by that of economics, which favored a mathematical approach. Today, the term political economy is used in interdisciplinary studies whose objective is the analysis of how politics influences market behavior.

Submerged economy

What submerged economy all that economic activity that is practiced outside of legal and tax controls is known. It ranges from activities not declared to the Treasury, to illegal and criminal economic activities, such as arms or drugs trafficking, or money laundering. Because they are economic activities that are carried out outside the law, they do not appear in the fiscal or statistical records of the State.

Informal economy

The informal economy It includes all economic activities, for the exchange of goods and services, which are hidden to evade taxes or administrative controls.Like the underground economy, it is part of the underground economy. Some common examples of the informal economy are domestic work or street vending. In all the countries of the world, to a greater or lesser extent, there is an informal economy, despite the fact that it does serious economic damage to the treasury.

Underground economy

What underground economy, also known as black market, it is designated that which is constituted by the exchange of goods, products or services in a clandestine or illegal way. As such, it is not subject to any legal regulations, so it tends to violate pricing or legal provisions that have been imposed by the government for trading such effects.

Economy Meaning

An economy comprises individuals, commercial entities, and the government involved in the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of products and services in a society. These activities collectively help a nation determine the availability and allocation of scarce resources to fulfill the needs of its people.

Also known as an economic systemThere are four prominent types of economic systems in the world based on their characteristics. It includes traditional economy, command economy, market economy and mixed economy. read more, it distributes land, resources, labor, and capital to produce for consumption. Furthermore, decision-making authorities define the value of goods and services within a community. The term commonly applies to a country, depicting its resources, consumption, inflation, economic growthEconomic growth refers to an increase in the aggregated production and market value of economic commodities and services in an economy over a specific period.read more, and decline. However, it can equally describe the economic structure of a city, state, local market, business center, etc.

Table of contents
  • Economy Meaning
    • How Does The Economy Work?
    • Economic Metrics
      • #1 – GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
      • #2 – GDP Per Capita
      • #3 – Income Per Capita
      • #4 – Inflation
      • #5 – Recession
    • Types Of Economy
      • 1 – Traditional Economic System
      • 2 – Command Economic System
      • 3 – Market Economic System
      • 4 – Mixed Economic System
    • Economy Examples
      • Example #1
      • Example #2
    • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
    • Recommended Articles

What is Economy

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  • The economy means a system comprising producers, customers, markets, and government agencies involved in the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services in a society.
  • These activities aid in determining the availability and distribution of production factors to meet the requirements of people. It also empowers decision-makers (governments and markets) to define the value of commodities and services within a community.
  • Various indicators demonstrate real economic growth and decline, such as GDP (gross domestic product), GDP Per Capita, Income Per Capita, Inflation, and Recession.
  • Traditional, command, market, mixed, green, and gig economies are examples of an economic system.

How Does The Economy Work?

An economy comprises processes and activities tied to the production, commerceCommerce is the accumulation of several transactions for a given industry. A transaction is a one-time event where an entity exchanges anything of value with a different entity.read more, distribution, and consumption of commodities and services in a region. It involves producers, customers, markets, and governments. Based on the governing power, an economic system can be primarily of two types. The one in which the government determines the type, quantity, and purpose of the output. And then there is the second, where markets determine production and price based on supply and demand.

Functions of an Economy

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It can be estimated for any period but is generally done quarterly, with the entire year divided into four quarters: Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. Factors contributing to the formation of an economy include history, geography, technological advancements, and social, political, and legal frameworks.

The term has a Greek origin, meaning household administration or management in English. Adam Smith, an economist, detailed how the economy evolved from the ancient bartering system to the modern money-driven and credit-based structure.

Economic Metrics

Various metrics, such as income, need, and lifestyle, have been established to demonstrate real growth and decline in an economy. The following are some of the standard ones used in the context of a country’s economic system:

Economic Metrics

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#1 – GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

It is an economic indicatorSome economic indicators are GDP, Exchange Rate Stability, Risk Premiums, Crude Oil Prices etc. read more for a nation’s growth. It indicates all goods manufactured and services rendered within a country over a specific period. However, it takes into account the economic activity driven by financial transactions. An increase in domestic production year over year reflects an economic boom.

#2 – GDP Per Capita

GDP Per capitalGDP per capita is a parameter that breaks down the GDP of a country to measure the economic prosperity of the citizens by simply dividing the GDP by the total population of that country.read more represents the economic output per person in a country and can be obtained by dividing its GDP by its overall population.

#3 – Income Per Capita

It calculates a citizen’s average annual income in a country to illustrate how affluent or economically stable they are. Also, it is an essential aspect in influencing economic growth.

#4 – Inflation

It is a common phenomenon, representing the sudden increase in the average price of goods and services. These are items that people use regularly. It further depicts the depreciation of a currencyCurrency depreciation is the fall in a country’s currency exchange value compared to other currencies in a floating rate system based on trade imports and exports. For example, an increase in demand for foreign products results in more imports, resulting in foreign currency investing, resulting in domestic currency depreciation.read more.

#5 – Recession

This situation occurs when overall production and industrial activities in a country are at their lowest. As the economic system does not perform well in this phase, the unemployment rate increases severely. It is one of the critical phases an economy must avoid or prevent. Many countries have faced it in history, with the most infamous being the Great Depression of 1929.

All these factors are critical to understand how the economic system functions and what reforms it requires.

Types Of Economy

Countries around the world acknowledge and implement four different types of economies, depending on their circumstances and assumptions:

Types of Economy

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1 – Traditional Economic System

It is the oldest economic framework based on industries like agriculture and fishing dominant in rural sectors and developing nations. Even though the traditional economyA traditional economy is a system where goods production and distribution are driven by time-honored beliefs, customs, culture, and traditions. read more focuses on products and services, there is a minimal labor division due to limited resources.

2 – Command Economic System

Command economy is abundant in resources managed, controlled, and governed by a central authority, i.e., the state. The government devises policies for production, pricing, and distribution of resources while keeping in mind the interest of citizens.

In this planned economic framework, political agents have the decision-making power to control the factors of productionFactors of production define resources used to produce or create finished goods and services, the sale and purchase of which keeps the market economy afloat.read more. It is widespread in communist economies, such as the Soviet Union and China, and sometimes referred to as a socialist economic system.

3 – Market Economic System

It describes an economic system based on free-market principles, with relatively little government intervention in resource allocation. That is why a market economyA market economy (ME) refers to a form of economic system where businesses and consumers drive the economy with minimal government intervention. In other words, the laws of demand and supply determine the price and quantity of goods produced in an economy.read more is often called a capitalist economy.

Although market forces allow commerce based on supply and demand, the government promotes anti-monopoly and pro-fair trade measures. On the one hand, producers control production factors and pricing, and on the other hand, consumers own their purchases and decide on the pay. Notably, its rare global presence does not hinder its ability to stimulate growth.

4 – Mixed Economic System

Mixed Economic SystemA mixed economic system is one that combines capitalist and socialist ideals. It allows for the protection of private assets while also allowing for liberty in use of capital and federal intervention in economic decisions.read more is the hybrid of the market (free-market) and command-based (socialist) economies and exhibits the coexistence of public and private sectors. Private businesses and the government strictly regulate the mixed economy. Due to its hybrid nature, market imbalances are a regular occurrence in this economic system. Therefore, the state introduces regulations and other social benefits, such as education, to strike a balance.

In addition to these, there are two more popular economic systems – green and gig economy. The former indicates public and private investments directed at building green infrastructure leading to employment and income growth. The latter refers to a model in which companies create temporary jobs online, such as freelancers or independent contractors.

Economy Examples

Let us consider the following examples to gain a better understanding of the concept of the economy:

Example #1

A small marketplace has only three business establishments – a gas station, a clothing store, and a grocery store.

In the first month, everyone in the locality buys monthly groceries from the grocery store. But only one or two families purchases clothes while gas consumption remains constant.

In the second month, grocery sale remains constant, but every family buys clothes from the clothing store due to the festival. Again, the consumption of gas is somewhat equivalent to the previous month.

In the third month, a rumor has it that petrol prices may hike and sudden inflation may lead to an increase in the prices of groceries. So people decide to minimize their monthly grocery expenditure by purchasing fewer items than usual. Also, no one buys clothes, and everyone fills up their vehicles with more gas.

To summarize, the economy of that marketplace will look something like this. In the first month, all three businesses contributed to it on average. However, the clothing business profited more than usual in the second month while the other two remained constant. People bought more petrol and gas in the third month, but inflationary increases in grocery prices resulted in fewer purchases. Therefore, in one quarter, each month played a different role in the economic system represented by the GDP of the marketplace.

Example #2

Now, the above example may seem insignificant of how the economic system works. However, when we talk about a nation, several elements influence it directly or indirectly, such as population, income, market stability, unemployment, etc.

For example, after the COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdowns, the U.S. GDP grew to 6.6% yearly in Q2, 2021, up from 6.3% in Q1, 2021. In contrast, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian economy contracted by a record 7.3% in the fiscal year that ended in March 2021.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is economy and its importance?

An economy consists of producers, buyers, markets, and government agencies actively engaged in the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of commodities and services in a society. These actions help determine the availability and distribution of production variables to meet people’s needs. It also gives decision-makers (governments and markets) the power to define the value of goods and services in a community. It means that either the state decides the type, quantity, and purpose of the output or markets determine production and price based on supply and demand.

What are the metrics for an economy?

Various metrics, such as GDP (gross domestic product), GDP Per Capita, Income Per Capita, Inflation, and Recession, illustrate economic development and decline. Besides, several factors like population, income, need, consumption, market stability, unemployment, etc., affect an economy.

What are the 4 economies?

The four common types of the economic system are traditional, command-based, market-based, and mixed.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to the Economy and its meaning. Here we discuss the types, functions of the economy, and how does it work, along with examples. You may learn more about financing from the following articles –

  • Economics
  • Economic Equilibrium
  • Economic Stimulus Package
  • Economic Union

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