the.com/economics
the dismal science that proves humans are gloriously, predictably irrational with their money
means The study of how people, businesses, and societies produce, distribute, and consume goods and services — and how they decide who gets what when there's never quite enough to go around.
from From the Greek 'oikonomia,' meaning household management — from 'oikos' (house) and 'nomos' (law or custom). So the original economist was simply someone keeping the family larder in order. The grander sense — managing the resources of a whole nation — came later, and the word 'economics' as the name of a discipline rose in the 19th century, replacing the older 'political economy.' The famous 'dismal science' label, by the way, was coined by Thomas Carlyle as an insult.
- name origin
- From Greek meaning household management
- nobel asterisk
- Its prize isn't an original Nobel
- dismal label
- Coined by Carlyle defending slavery, ironically
- behavioral turn
- Psychologists kept winning the economics prize
- invisible hand
- Smith used the phrase only thrice ever
hyperinflation in zimbabwe — zimbabwean dollar reached 89.7 sextillion percent inflation in 2008, rendering the currency worthless
opec oil embargo 1973 — opec nations cut oil production by 5% in october 1973, causing global energy crisis and 400% price spike