Economics: The Science of Scarcity.
In this essay, I will argue whether or not the subject of Economics is ‘The Science of Scarcity’, or not.
First, I need to know whether Economics is a Science or not. Subjects are grouped into two main categories, Arts and Sciences. There is one thing that sets these two groups apart from each other, this is the ‘Scientific Method’, and is used in all Sciences. The Scientific Method is the process of proving whether something is true or not. It’s composed: Firstly coming up a hypothesis, or an idea. Once a hypothesis has been thought up it needs to be proved using tests or experiments and the results analyzed before what was found can be communicated, and maybe become a ‘law’ if generally accepted by people. In addition to the use of the Scientific Method, Arts subjects don’t, usually, prove anything. The majority of the time they are used to communicate things. For example: paintings or writings.
When this ‘definition’ of having to have a Scientific Method is applied to Economics, it generally fits as economists have to do the steps outlined to prove their hypothesis’ correct, the only difference being that instead of testing their ideas in a lab, or on a practical level they have to collect data and analyze it before it can be published and/or thought about becoming law. Not being able to truly test or experiment with the ideas is however what some people say makes it an Art, not a Science. This is because the idea is never proved to work, just assumed as so. This isn’t a true indication of whether the idea would turn out correct or not therefore would still be unproven.