Economics as a subject matter of social science has been treated as a science of (a) Wealth, (b) Welfare, (c) Scarcity and Choice (d) Growth and Development and (e) Sustainable Development.
Micro Economics and Macro Economics are two important branches of Economics. Micro economics deals with the economic decision making by individuals and institutions. Macro Economics deals with economic aggregates at the level of the whole economy.
Economic facts and figures are called Positive Economics. Normative Economics deals with "What ought to be".
Human Wants
The desires which are backed by money and willingness to purchase, may be called wants. Wants are satisfied with the use of goods and services. Economic wants are satisfied by using goods and services purchased from the market by paying a price. Non-economic wants are satisfied by using goods and services which are not purchased from the market by paying a price.
With the discovery and new inventions, new wants arise and grow. Some wants may be necessary for the existence of life. These are necessities. Wants, which make our life easy and comfortable, are called comforts. Some wants give us pleasure but they are satisfied by costly goods are called luxuries.
Although a single want is satiable, all wants can not be satisfied due to the scarcity of resources. Some most important characteristics of wants are: wants are unlimited, a single want is satiable, some wants arise again and again, wants vary with time, place and person. Present wants are more important than future wants, wants change and expand with development, wants change and expand with development.
Goods and Services
Human wants are unlimited. Goods and services can satisfy them. Free goods are those goods which are available in unlimited quantity and do not command a price in the market. Economic goods are limited in supply in relation to their demand. They also command a price in the market.
Free services are rendered out of love, affection, etc. They cannot be bought in the market. Economic services are the services, which can be bought in the market.
Consumer goods are those goods, which satisfy consumer's want directly. Both consumer goods and producer goods are further classified into single use and durable use goods depending upon the number of times that good is used. If used only once, it is single use and if used again and again it is durable use good.
Consumer services satisfy the wants of consumers directly whereas producer services help in the further production of goods and services. Quality and quantity of goods and services determine the level of production, investment, consumption and satisfaction of human wants.