Economics is, at its very heart, the study of people. It is an inquiry into how people succeed, what makes us happy or content, and ultimately how humanity has managed over generations to become more healthy and prosperous than ever before. Economics examines what drives human beings to do what they do, and looks at how they react when faced with difficulties or success. It investigates choices people make when given a limited set of options and how they trade them off against each other. It is a science that encompasses history, politics, psychology and at times, the odd equation or two. If it is history’s job to tell us what mistakes we have made in the past, then it is up to economics to work out how to do things differently in the future.