Origin of Economics

The word 'Economics' was derived from the Greek word 'Oikonomia', which is a combined word of oikos and nomia. 'Oikos' means household and 'nomia' means custom. In simple words, economics is management of household.  The literal meaning of economics explains how people interact within markets to fulfill their desires. 

Aristotle, a Greek philosopher confined the study of economics to household management, acquiring and making proper use of wealth in his book 'Economia'. We can say that, economics is a social science which is concerned with production, distribution and consumption of wealth.

Development of Economics

Many economists presented their views on economics in different eras. The present stage of economics is all because of their contribution. The development of economics can be classified into three periods and are listed below :

1. Classical Period ( 1776 - 1890 A.D.)  

 The hundred year period between 1776 to 1890 AD in the history of economics is known as classical period. It is regarded as the first modern school of economics thoughts. Adam Smith is the leader of this period. J.B. Say, T.R. Malthus, David Ricardo, J.S. Mill, and F.A. Walker are some important members of classical period.

2. Neo-classical Period ( 1890 - 1932 A.D.)

The period between 1890 to 1932 AD in the history of economics is known as neo-classical period. This period is regarded as most fertile period of economics because in this period many theories were developed, refined and reformulated. The leader of this period is Alfred Marshall. A.C. Pigou, Fisher Sedgewick, Carl Menger,  angd Edwin Cannan. 

3. Modern Period ( 1932 onwards )

The era of twentieth century in the history of economics is known as modern period. Lionel Robbins, Barbara Wotton, William Beveridge, John Maynard Keynes, Paul A. Samuelson, etc are some famous economists of this period.