Q.Explain Jacob Viner's definition of Economics.

Jacob Viner's definition — "Economics is what economists do" — is a practical, operational definition. Instead of fixing economics to one phrase (wealth, welfare or scarcity), it says the real scope of the subject is revealed by the actual problems economists study.

Background

Economics has been defined in many ways — as a science of wealth (Adam Smith), of material welfare (Marshall), of scarcity and choice (Robbins), and of growth (Samuelson). Because every single definition was criticised as too narrow or too wide, some economists adopted a practical, operational view of the subject.

Jacob Viner's Definition

Jacob Viner, an American economist, gave the brief and famous statement: "Economics is what economists do."

Explanation

• It is an operational or practical definition — it describes the subject by the activity of its practitioners rather than by a fixed set of words.
• It suggests that the real scope of economics cannot be captured in a single rigid phrase; it is better understood by observing the wide range of problems economists actually analyse — production, consumption, exchange, distribution, public finance, money, national income, growth and development.
• It is a flexible definition, because the work of economists keeps widening with time, and so does the subject. New areas (environmental economics, development economics, behavioural economics) are automatically included. …