Ekonomia

Ekonomia is a term used in many languages to denote both the economy—the system by which a society organizes production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services—and the science that studies these processes. The word derives from the Greek oikonomia, meaning household management.

An economy consists of institutions, markets, and policies that coordinate exchange. It includes private and public sectors, financial markets, and regulatory frameworks. Economic analysis looks at how scarce resources are allocated through prices, incentives, and competition, and how outcomes such as growth, employment, and price stability emerge.

Key branches include microeconomics, which examines how households and firms make decisions and how markets allocate resources, and macroeconomics, which analyzes aggregate variables such as gross domestic product, inflation, unemployment, and the effects of fiscal and monetary policy. Econometrics and economic history apply data and methods to test theories and understand past performance.

Measurement commonly uses indicators such as GDP, gross national income, price indices, and unemployment rates to gauge activity, living standards, and inflation. Economic systems vary by the degree of market versus state coordination; market economies rely largely on prices to coordinate behavior, while planned or socialist systems rely more on central planning, with mixed economies combining elements of both.

Contemporary concerns include globalization, technological change, inequality, climate change, and sustainable development, all of which influence policy choices in different countries.