Reading. Economics is the study of how people choose to use resources

Economics is the study of how people choose to use resources. Resources include the time and talent people have available, the land, buildings, equipment, and other tools on hand, and the knowledge of how to combine them to create useful products and services.

In short, economics includes the study of labor, land and investments, money, income and production, taxes and government expenditures. Economists seek ways to measure well-being, to learn how well-being may increase over time, and to evaluate the well-being of the rich and the poor. The most famous book in Economics is The Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations written by Adam Smith, and published in 1776 in Scotland.

The Economy Today may appear to be improving statistically with a gradual increase in employment and salaries, gross domestic product. The basic economic indicators that reflect Economy Today are:

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the total market value of every finished product, whether commodities or services, produced within a country in a specific time period (usually a fiscal year) taken together.

The Gross Domestic Product of an economy is computed by adding the following:

- private consumption in the economy;

- investments in business capital;

- total government expenditures on finished goods and services.

Net exports of the economy which implies gross imports deducted from the gross exports.

Gross National Product (GNP) - the total market value of all finished commodities and services, produced by the production factors of a country and then disposed off through sales within a particular time period. The outputs from outsourcing of production all add to the GNP of a nation.

Per Capita Income - the total earnings of a country through all means of production in a given time period, divided by the population of that country.

The above are basically used to compare the general economic condition of a population to those of other nations. As reported by the IMF, the following countries lead in terms of GDP: the USA, Japan, Germany, China, the UK.

The industrialization of traditional economy through modern technical inventions has resulted in a gradual increase in the real growth of World GDP over the years. The general trend is that the technologically advanced developed nations account for the largest share of World exports but of recent developing nations like China and India are becoming increasingly major exporters in the World scenario.

The participation of a country in international trade favors economic development. It brings a positive economic change as it contributes to the production of more goods for foreign markets. For example, through the mechanisms of international trade China became a major producer of goods in the global market, exporting products all over the world. Successful international trade also contributes to high rates of employment because companies need employees to satisfy the high demand for exports. Thus unemployment in China significantly decreased as a result of demand for Chinese production from foreign markets.