The word “Economics” has been derived from two Greek words Oikos (meaning a house) and Nemein (meaning to manage). Economics is the science of analyzing the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, in other word Economy is a study of how a society chooses to use its limited resources to produces, exchange and consume goods and services.

Economics has been defined by the various economist on his own theory. Various definitions are grouped under four headings which are:

• Welfare definition – Alfred Marshall
• Wealth definition – Adam Smith
• Scarcity definition – Lionel Robbins
• Growth and Development definition – Paul A. Samuelson.

According to Adam Smith

“Economics inquiries into the factors that determine the wealth of the country and its growth.” The definition stresses production and expansion of wealth.

According to Marshall

“Economics is on one side the study of wealth, and on the other and more important side, the study of man”.

According to Prof. Lionel Robbins

in his book “Nature and significance of Economic Science” (1932) defined the economics as:
“Economics is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.”

According to Pigou

“The range of our enquiry becomes restricted to that part of social welfare that can be brought directly or indirectly into relation with the measuring rod of money.”

According to Paul A. Samuelson

“Economics is the study of how men and society, choose, with or without the use of money, to employ scarce productive resources which could have alternative uses, to produce various commodities over time, and distribute them for consumption now and in the future among various people and groups of society.”