The Definition of Economics

Economics is traditionally defined as Mankiw does in his textbook as "the study of how society manages its scarce resources."

Michale Mandel (via Kling) provides a much better definition which is

"Economics is the study of the functioning-–and malfunctioning--of the economy, with the aim of improving living standards"


My preferred definition, however, is that economics is the study of human behavior. I consider other social sciences to be competing fields. I will amend my definition when intelligent robots arise.