Q.Distinguish between economic and non-economic activities.

The two kinds of human activity differ mainly in what motivates them and whether their outcome can be measured in money.

Economic and non-economic activities differ on several counts. First, on motive: an economic activity is undertaken mainly to earn income or a livelihood, whereas a non-economic activity is undertaken out of love, affection, sympathy, patriotism, religious belief or social duty, with no thought of monetary gain. Second, on measurability: the output of an economic activity — goods sold, wages earned, fees charged — can be expressed and measured in money and is counted as part of a country's national income, whereas the value of a non-economic activity, however great its emotional or social worth, is not measured in money and is not counted in national income. Third, on classification: economic activities are studied under business, profession and employment, while non-economic activities cover things like housework done out of love, voluntary social service, worship, and hobbies pursued for personal pleasure. Fourth, on consideration: economic activities usually involve a price or a wage as consideration for the goods or services rendered, while non-economic activities involve no such consideration at all. For example, a tailor stitching clothes for customers for payment performs an economic activity, but the same tailor stitching clothes for his own child out of love performs a non-economic activity, even though the physical work is identical — it is the motive that decides the classification, not the nature of the task itself.

Students often try to distinguish the two by the nature of the task performed (e.g., "cooking is non-economic, selling is economic") rather than by the motive behind it, which leads to wrong conclusions when the same task is done both for love and for money in different contexts, as in the tailor example above.