Areas of economics

There are three main approaches to economics: microeconomics, macroeconomics, and development economics.

Microeconomics focuses on individual economic units. Theeconomic behaviour of either individual consumers or¹ firms or industries is studied by microeconomics. The distribution of products and income among all these units is also analyzed by microeconomics. In this field of economics individuals are considered both as suppliers of labour and as consumers of goods. Firms are also studied both as suppliers of products and² as consumers of labour and capital.

There was a long period in the 19th and early in the 20th centuries when microeconomic questions dominated in economics. In the 20th century economists’ interest in forces that affect income, employment and prices grew. They considered economy in all its relationships.

The term "macroeconomics" was first used in the 1930s. The world depression that began in 1929 required the study of such macroeconomic questions as achievement of full employment and economic growth by means of proper government policies³. This area of economics was developed by the British economist John Maynard Keynes.

The third main field of economics, that is, development economics, studies the factors of economic growth and how these factors are used by governments in order to achieve high living standards.

Пояснения к тексту

¹ either... or... или... или; либо... либо...

² both... and... и...и; как...так и

³ существительное policy «политика» в английском языке может употребляться во множественном числе для обозначения политического курса, политики, проводимой конкретным правительством, партией и т.п. На русский язык обычно переводится единственным числом.

Ответьте на вопросы к тексту.

1. What does microeconomics study?

2. Whose economic behaviour is studied by micro­economics?

3. How are individuals considered by microeconomics?

4. When did microeconomic approach dominate in economics?

5. When did economists’ interest in macroeconomics grow?

6. How is economy considered in macroeconomics?

7. What stimulated the development of macroeco­nomics?

8. What problems were analyzed in the 1930s?

9. What is studied by development economics?