ECONOMICS-PURE & APPLIED SCIENCE:
Some economists, instead of considering economics as a science & an art, prefer to classify it as pure & applied economics. The latter distinction i.e. pure & applied is better, more scientific, more dignified & conducive to better understanding.
Since economics is a light bearing science i.e. it has developed theoretical analysis of economic activity which can be used in practice to find solutions to various economic problems & to formulate policies, it is known as a pure science.
When this analysis is actually used in practice eg there are various agencies today giving advice to policy makers in connection with their economic problems, that economics becomes an applied science. Welfare economics indicates that economic knowledge can be used for promoting social welfare.
As Prof Bye states, “Pure science furnishes the tools with which applied science works. The two go hand in hand, but the former must precede for without it the latter is without the proper means for accomplishment of its task”.
Today applied economics has become more popular than pure economics.