A second inspiration came from Demosthenes Locke, on the subject again of economics by Gideon MacLeish (http://gideon-macleish.joeuser.com/articleComments.asp?AID=95112) that got me to thinking.  His comment was:

understanding of economics can have a dramatic effect on how you approach problems, and how you view both worldly and everyday affairs.

He is of Course right.

In the 'sciences' are, there are what is known as soft science and hard science.  Soft Sciences are those that deal with people for the most part.  These include Sociology, Psychiatry, Psychology, and of course Economics.  Hard sciences are those based upon the real world outside of the human experience, such as physics, chemistry and biology (Medicine).  Yet of all the Nobel prices for most of the hard sciences, but the only soft science that is included is Economics!  And I believe for the very reason that Demosthenes Locke stated above.

Very few people actually study economics.  I did not start out to, but had such a great Econ 101 teacher Dr. Harold Rapp, I wound up Majoring in it.  And I do find it fascinating even today.  But the only real difference between myself and most of the people of this country, and indeed the world, is that when I use economics in my every day life, I know I am doing it.  While when most use economics, they never realize that is indeed what they are using.

And I dont mean using it only in the monetary sense.  Indeed, recently Bluedev had an article on medicine where he actually used some economic arguments outside of money in his thesis.  And of course he did sway me in my opinion on that subject because of his well thought out and reasoned arguments.  Did he realize he was making economic arguments?  I did not think of it at the time, so did not ask him.

But as we go through life, we are always using economic theory, and yes the one law, in our every day decisions.  Even in areas that would not normally be thought of as in the realm of economics.  I wrote an earlier article about Type I and Type II errors, and applied it to Iraq.  And it was not about Oil!  Yet Type I and Type II errors grew up in Economics, even if today, they are widely used by people that have no broad knowledge of the subject.

So that is why I think the Nobel Committee added economics to the Prizes, and did not so honor other soft sciences.  For Economics so permeates normal human life, just as Chemistry, Physics and Biology do, that it seemed a natural to include it.  I think many of you have heard of the Queue theory.  That was an economic concept that was actually used by the Bell Labs back in the 1920s to design switching technology.

Just as we use physics, Chemistry, and Physiology in our everyday lives, so to do we use economics, and like the other 3 sciences, we rarely think about it when we do use it.