Economics, Politics and Language

   Economics, politics and language are tightly interconnected.
   That may not seem so at first mention, but consider these definitions:
   -- Economics is the study of what people do with what's available.
   -- Politics is how people decide who gets to do what, and who's in charge.
   -- Language is used to describe what people say, do and how they think.

   Together, these concepts explain and describe three key elements of society, and it is journalism's job to report how they interact. Academia nuts point to other areas of study, but most are variations of these three main areas of the social sciences. They are distinct from the pure sciences, such as chemistry, physics and medicine.
   The above definitions may be called simplistic, but for a general audience they can be a good place to start for an understanding of how they interact.
   Originally, economics began in ancient Greece as a term to describe how a household was run, and the study was later expanded to become political economics, the study of how a city-state was run. In modern times, the term is used primarily to describe the study of how an entire society makes use of what is available.
   Thus, politics and economics have always been closely tied together, even as the term politics became allied with the business of government. In fact, government and how it behaves in using resources is an important part of any economy, and is second only to consumer spending in measuring the status of a nation's political and economic health.
   So when politicians convene to decide whom to nominate as a potential leader of government, they are basically also deciding who will lead government's activity in encouraging economic growth. 
  Conservatives adhere to the idea that government interference in business is always bad, and an unfettered "free market" is always best.
   Reality check: There is no such thing as a totally free market. Equally, a market totally controlled by government is not workable. Somewhere in the middle is where many modern economies succeed.
   The trick, then, is to find that mid-point that benefits most and harms the fewest.
   To help find that level is where politics and economics interact, and where journalism, using language, reports on whatever progress is being made, by government and business leaders, as well as by consumers and their advocates.