Economic

Economic is an adjective relating to the economy or to the science of economics. In practice, it describes topics that concern the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, and the behavior of people and institutions within markets and policy settings. Economic analysis seeks to explain how scarce resources are allocated when faced with competing uses.

The discipline of economics studies choices under scarcity, using models to understand preferences, incentives, prices, and institutions. It is commonly divided into microeconomics, which analyzes individuals and firms; and macroeconomics, which considers aggregate outcomes such as growth, inflation, unemployment, and policy. Economists also develop fields like econometrics, development economics, labor economics, and environmental economics.

Key concepts include supply and demand, market equilibrium, opportunity cost, marginal analysis, and efficiency. Measurements such as gross domestic product, inflation rate, and unemployment rate are used as indicators of economic performance. Policy tools include monetary policy, fiscal policy, and regulatory frameworks, aimed at stabilizing or guiding an economy.

The term economic can be used in phrases such as economic growth or economic policy. Distinguishing from economical, which means cost-effective or frugal, economic relates specifically to the economy or economics as a science.

Historically, economics emerged from moral philosophy, matured with classical economists like Smith and Ricardo, and evolved through the marginal revolution and Keynesianism into contemporary empirical research.