Economy, Economics, Economical

In the common use of the term 'economical', 'economy' is conceived as synonymous with 'thrift' and 'frugality', both normative terms.  Each of these signifies a minimizing of waste.  Accordingly, 'Economics' in this sense aims at the least wasteful use of resources, including money, non-human goods, and human abilities.  The relevant sections of both the Republic and the Politics can thus be classified as 'Economics' in this sense, as can be the promotion of Division of Labor in Wealth of Nations, and Marx's 'From each according to one's abilities' formulation.  In contrast, hardly anything under the contemporary rubric of 'Economics', which is typically a mathematized description of the status quo, so qualifies.  Crystallizing the sharp distinction between the two concepts of Economics is the contrasting statuses in them of a recycling operation.  In one, recycling epitomizes the reduction of waste, while in the other, it is just another business enterprise in the service sector, represented in terms of payments and expenditures, with no inherent connection to any other enterprise.  This low priority in them of waste-reduction, whether of human resources, of raw materials, of manufactured goods, or of money, only underscores that neither the American Economy nor the Economics that represents it is economical.