What are "the fundamental categories of economics"?

Question

I had an introductory class in marketing last week, and the professor wanted to test our previous knowledge of economics (we are juniors). He asked us this simple question: "What are the fundamental/basic categories in economics?"Confused by the vagueness of the question, most of us said labor, capital, profit, markets... All sorts of things, but none were apparently correct. In the end, he said that the correct answer is: - cost - result (as in profit or revenue) - timeHe continued to say that we define everything in economics on the basis of these three categories.My questions now are: is this true? Do I really have such a significant knowledge gap that I somehow missed this crucial piece? Where can I find the confirmation of his statement?If this is not true, can you please refer me to where I can find the answer to this question?Thanks

Answer 1

Category means the particular features of a thing or person..

Economic categories form a system composed of three sets: categories of modes of production such as division of labor, commodity money relations, specific money categories such as capital, surplus value or fixed capital. There are different category of Economics, such as economic systems in the Journal of Economics literature that deals with social systems and related concepts like mode of production. Then there are categories of economic indicators for instance, GDP growth rates, Labor markets, labor costs, productivity etc

In essence, economic category is an abstract expression of production relations. Marxism analyzed the concept of economic category scientifically.  

Answer 2

You could ask 4 economists this question and get 8 answers. Many economists look at maximizing Net benefits over time as part of a decision or allocation process. That is, Benefits (or results) Costs and how to spread them over time.

Do note that this is your professor's perspective and not some unanimous consensus.