Economics is most commonly described as the study of how societies allocate scarce resources. That is not necessarily an incorrect definition, but it is insultingly incomplete.

Scarcity tells us that choices have to be made. It does not tell us which choices are better, what ought to matter, who should bear the cost, or what we should value in the first place. Each of the questions above turns on incentives and trade-offs, but also on values, priorities, judgement, morality and choice. And yet, each is fundamentally a question of economics.

A much more compelling definition is attributed to Jacob Viner, who quipped that “economics is what economists do.”1

Within the EWC committee, this is the definition we hold onto because, as it turns out, economists really do do everything.

They have proven that queues move faster when the last person is served first.2 They have published analyses of whether the toilet seat should be left up or down.3 They have even discovered that when inflation is plotted against unemployment in Japan, the resulting curve resembles Japan itself.4

And that is rather the point.

The economist’s way of thinking can be applied almost anywhere. To a fire station or a classroom. To a boardroom or a bathroom. To the largest questions facing society, and to questions so ordinary that they will never get asked.

It is a surprising but gratifying discovery that an interest in economics can take you into every sphere of human endeavour.

This belief sits at the foundation of the Economics World Cup. We do not think economics should be confined to a predetermined list of topics, models, or textbook chapters. It is too expansive a discipline for that. Any rigid definition risks drawing boundaries where none need to exist.

And so, we prefer Viner’s definition.

Economics is what economists do.