Economics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search This article is about the social science. For other uses, see Economics (disambiguation) . For a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of economics . Economists study trade, production and consumption decisions, such as those that occur in a traditional marketplace . Economics is the social science that analyzes the production , distribution , and consumption of goods and services . The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek ο ἰ κονομία ( oikonomia, "management of a household, administration") from ο ἶ κος ( oikos, "house") + νόμος ( nomos, "custom" or "law"), hence "rules of the house(hold)". [1] Current economic models emerged from the broader field of political economy in the late 19th century. A primary stimulus for the development of modern economics was the desire to use an empirical ...