Economics exists because we live in a world in which resources are finite. We do not have endless supplies of energy, minerals, food so on. Yet even though these resources are finite, many people aspire to improving their lifestyle by having more and better and newer and nicer things. In short, people have unlimited wants. Our needs outstrip the means of satisfying them. There is not enough to go around. Some people starve, while others enjoy fantastic luxury. This is not a morality tale but a description of the world we live in. • To understand the things in the newspaper you read • To help you understand many problems the world faces and how they can be solved. • To help you understand what politicians are trying to convince you of and how truthful are they being. • It is a highly respected subject at university and will support many, many careers • Finally it will help you win arguments! The skills required for Economics – numeracy, problem solving and the ability to communicate clearly with different groups of people are highly prized amongst employers. These skills together with a thorough knowledge of the workings of the economic system which affects so many aspects of our lives (both personal and in work) make you very employable. These skills are known as transferable skills, this means you can transfer them to plenty of other jobs - not just those of professional economists. If you are interested in how wealth is created and enjoy lively debates about how it ought to be distributed, Economics should appeal to you Economists assume that we all have unlimited wants. If that is true we then ask whether the world can provide to meet those wants. It can’t for two reasons: • If wants are really infinite (i.e. endless) then, by definition, they can’t all be satisfied • The world doesn’t contain infinite resources Given that we can’t have or do everything, we end up having to make choices. So you can think of economics as the study (or science) of making choices.