Oluyomi Ola-David Insights

What technology is in popular parlance is not what technology is to an economist. The ordinary mind thinks technology is the gamut of information communication technologies and everything else sophisticated enough to make all human actions and production processes easy and fast.  This layman perspective is somewhat relevant to the economist, since ease of doing things can promote economic efficiency, productivity growth and economic growth Further to this, Merriam-Webster's dictionary presents notable definitions of technology: ■ The practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area; ■ A capability given by the practical application of knowledge;  ■ A manner of accomplishing a task especially using technical processes, methods, or knowledge and new technologies for information storage; ■ The specialized aspects of a particular field of endeavour. To an economist, technology refers to the manner in which varied factor inputs in a production function are combined. Wh

In every economy, there are a variety of economic agents. These agents fall into five (5) broad classifications: A. Individuals B. Households C. Firms D. Governments E. Institutions Each economic agent makes decisions and engages in a variety of activities in pursuit of a core objective. Individuals are assumed to seek utility maximization while households work to attain a desired living standard. Firms tend to have a range of objectives as they adapt to their dynamic business environment, but it is traditional for for-profit firms to seek to maximise profit. Governments exist to maximise their social welfare functions while institutions are established to entrench justice and peace in all human relationships. Governments retain the priviledge to create and maintain institutions that sustain socio-economic life within  territorial boundaries across the planet. In other to maximise social welfare, governments make decisions and take actions to grow and sustain economic health and wealth