Each society seeks its own social arrangements. Our Canadian society relies primarily, although not completely, upon a system of variable money prices, a market economy, to resolve the questions of production and distribution. Much of the study of economics consists of examining the operation of market economies to discover regularities of behaviour, ultimately in the expectation that through better understanding society will be able to remedy undesirable results and achieve better ones. Instruction on such topics emphasizes understanding. To achieve understanding means moving into the seemingly abstract realm of theory, analysis and technical terms.
Little attention is paid to description or factual memorization.
Courses in economics are not designed for social chitchat about current economic problems. The courses do provide a foundation for a better understanding of such problems. Students planning to concentrate on economics will find mathematics a valuable complementary study. Those who dislike mathematics or who do poorly in it usually encounter difficulties in economics.