Q.State Robbins' definition of Economics.

The choice problem (problem of economising) arises because wants are unlimited while resources are scarce and can be put to alternative uses, forcing individuals and societies to choose which wants to satisfy and how to allocate their limited means.

Meaning

The problem of choice is the heart of economics. Human wants are unlimited, but the means (resources) available to satisfy them are limited and have alternative uses. Because all wants cannot be satisfied at once, a choice has to be made about which wants to satisfy first and how to use the scarce resources.

This gives rise to the central problems of what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce. The need to choose, and therefore to give up one thing to get another, is the reason economics is often called the science of choice.

This basic concept in the AP Intermediate 1st-year Economics course aligns with the introductory content of the NCERT/CBSE curriculum.

The choice problem is the central economic problem that arises because wants are unlimited but resources are scarce and have alternative uses, forcing people to choose how to use their limited means.

Meaning

The choice problem (problem of choice) arises from the basic economic fact that:

• human wants are unlimited, but
• the resources (means) to satisfy them are scarce, and these resources have alternative uses.

Because resources are limited and can be used in more than one way, every individual and society must decide which wants to satisfy first and how to allocate the scarce means among competing uses. This necessity of choosing is the problem of choice.

Lionel Robbins based his definition of economics on this idea, calling economics the science that studies human behaviour as a relationship between unlimited ends and scarce means which have alternative uses. The problem of choice gives rise to the central problems of what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce.