Economists are concerned with the question of how the material needs of people can best be satisfied using available resources of labour, capital, technology, and those derived from nature.

An economist analyses and describes the relationship between the supply and demand for goods and services - what is to be produced, how it is to be produced and for whom.

They use their expertise to describe, analyse and advise on a wide range of economic issues: tax or wage problems; economic policies; explaining the causes of unemployment and of inflation.