Over at
EconLog Bryan Caplan wonders exactly what "economics" means. I will be teaching
Introduction to Agricultural Economics for the first time this fall, and necessarily must address this question. Caplan points to the fact that in many facets the term "sociologist" is more appropriate for the research we conduct than "economist." In ag econ, I would argue that "management" might be an appropriate substitute also. Many ag econ departments in fact call themselves
agribusiness departments, and most of our students obtain
agribusiness degrees.
In my textbook I gave the standard definition "study of the allocation of scarce resources" but quickly told the reader that this definition should not mean much to them. Instead, I informed the reader about the questions we address. In my field, these questions are questions of management and sociology.
Fortunately, we do not need to provide students with a good definition. Frankly, they don't care.
