CHAPTER 1

Economics and the Business Manager

What Is Economics All About?

Mention the word “economist” and one conjures up a vision of an academic who scours over macroeconomic data and utilizes sophisticated statistical techniques to make forecasts. Indeed, that’s what many economists do. But some people may be surprised to learn that economics is a social science, not a business science. Like psychology, sociology, anthropology, and the other social sciences, economics studies human behavior. It includes consumer behavior, firm behavior, and the behavior of markets.

In its simplest form, economics is a study of how human beings behave when they cannot be at two places at the same time. If a person takes a job that requires extensive travel, ...

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