ABSTRACT
Economics is the most mundane, although not the least important of the social sciences. It carries – or at least it should carry – a good deal of weight because of its influence both on public policy and on the individual strategies of business firms. Economics focuses on a firm’s profit, which is based in turn on its costs and the value of its sales. The most important decision influencing sales is whether the firm is in the business of making what it can sell, or alternatively whether it exists to sell what it is accustomed to making. The question is not easy to answer, and Toyota and General Motors (to pick two topical examples) are likely to answer it in different ways.
