Why is economics described as the studies of human behavior?

Question

Why is economics described as the studies of human behavior?

Answer 1

Economics studies how people make choices when they are faced with scarcity -- meaning they have to give up something in order to acquire something else.  We have to give up sleep, a job, time spent on other acitvities, etc. when we decide to take a given class for instance.  All of the things we have to forego have value to us.  When economists look at this choice of whether or not not take that class they would look at what the person is giving up and how they value what the class will give them.  There is a trade off to many things that we do in life, and economists study those trade-offs and the choices that are made.

So economics certainly is a study of human behavior.  It is that study in the face of the alternatives and constraints that the individual or society faces.

Answer 2

Economics is unfortunately not defined as study of nature, properties, composition, laws and classification of wealth. Economics studied only application of wealth. Hence human behavior appeared in study of economics. If one studies wealth the way chemist studies matter, there is no room for human behavior.

Answer 3

Perhaps because economics studies the the behavior of people when they are given alternatives and incentives.  Economics studies how people behave given a set number of resources and how they allocate those resources.

Answer 4

it's not economics is the study of economy...sociology is the study of human behavior