In examining the nature of man, we have learned that all individuals act in an effort to remove or alleviate their sense of uneasiness.

Put another way, all men (and women) act in an effort to improve their situation - or in other words, to make a profit of some kind.

The reason that people act at all, is that they ascribe a value to every object, person, or relationship which seems likely to affect them - whether that be desirably or undesirably.  They act in an effort to maximize their profits.

In other words, all human beings act to obtain a plus factor in their lives and existence.  They want either to prevent a loss or to make a gain.

Economics is the study of human action in the market.  All human action in the market occurs because of each individual's sense of what is of value - to them.

It used to be considered by many economists (and still is by some) that economics is simply the study of scarce goods and services, and the acquisition or production of those goods and services in the market.

While scarce goods and services are admittedly valuable and absolutely necessary, they are subordinate to the evaluation process that each of us uses - or in other words, the value that each of us individually assigns to those goods and services, according to the likelihood that we subjectively consider that those goods or services will improve our individual circumstance.