Economics is the study of how individuals, businesses, and societies allocate scarce resources. It involves analyzing how people make decisions about what to produce, how to produce it, and how to distribute it. Economics also examines how markets work, how the government influences economic activity, and how economic policies can be used to address social issues such as unemployment and inflation. Overall, economics provides a framework for understanding how people and organizations interact in the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.