Economics is a science of choice making or Definition of L. Robbins

Q. Economics is a science of choice making/Explain the definition of L. Robbins

Robbins gave a more scientific definition of Economics. His definition is as follows:

"Economics is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses".

Strengths of Robbins Definitions: The definition deals with the following four aspects:

(i) Economics is a science: Economics studies economic human behavior scientifically. It studies how humans try to optimize (maximize or minimize) certain objective under given constraints. For example, it studies how consumers, with given income and prices of the commodities, try to maximize their satisfaction.

(ii) Unlimited ends: Ends refer to wants. Human wants are unlimited. When one want is satisfied, other wants crop up. If man's wants were limited, then there would be no economic problem.

(iii) Scarce means: Means refer to resources. Since resources (natural productive resources, man-made capital goods, consumer goods, money and time etc.) are limited economic problem arises. If the resources were unlimited, people would be able to satisfy all their wants and there would be no problem.

(iv) Alternative uses: Not only resources are scarce, they have alternative uses. For example, coal can be used as a fuel for the production of industrial goods, it can be used for running trains, it can also be used for domestic cooking purposes and for so many purposes. Similarly, financial resources can be used for many purposes. The man or society has, therefore, to choose the uses for which resources would be used. If there was only a single use of the resource then the economic problem would not arise.

It follows from the definition of Robbins that Economics is a science of choice. An important thing about Robbin's definition is that it does not distinguish between material and non-material, between welfare and non-welfare. Anything which satisfies the wants of the people would be studied in Economics. Even if a good is harmful to a person it would be studied in Economics if it satisfies his wants.

Criticism of Robbins Definition: No doubt, Robbins has made Economics a scientific study and his definition has become popular among some economists. But his definition has also been criticized on several grounds. Important ones are:

(i) Robbins has made Economics quite impersonal and colorless. By making it a complete positive science and excluding normative aspects he has narrowed down its scope.

(ii) Robbins' definition is totally silent about certain macro-economic aspects such as determination of national income and employment.

(iii) His definition does not cover the theory of economic growth and development. While Robbins takes resources as given and talks about their allocation, it is totally silent about the measures to be taken to raise these resources i.e. national income and wealth.