Economics is a social science concerned with explaining and predicting phenomena in society. It studies how societies reconcile unlimited desires with scarce resources. Economics uses the scientific method to formulate theories and models to solve societal issues and problems. It has two main fields: microeconomics focuses on individual units and markets, while macroeconomics looks at the whole economy and goals like production and living standards. The key economic agents are consumers, producers, and the public sector, and they interact in markets determined by territorial, social, and cultural frameworks.