SPPU Solved Question Papers
General Principles of Economics
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 1
Oct 2025 Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 1 General Principles of Economics Oct 2025 Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 6 November 2026.
Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.
Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.
Passages from this volume may be quoted, in print, online or by an AI system, with credit: name munotes.in and link to this volume's page. The volume may not be reproduced as a whole. Full terms at munotes.in/content-license.
munotes.in is an independent study resource for students of Savitribai Phule Pune University. It is not affiliated with Savitribai Phule Pune University, and is not endorsed by it.
The University does not publish an official answer key for this paper. The answers in this volume are model answers, written to show how a full-mark answer is built. They are a study aid, not an authority on what an examiner marked.
The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Savitribai Phule Pune University at the Oct 2025 examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Savitribai Phule Pune University set it at the Oct 2025 examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the Oct 2025 examination, reproduced as Savitribai Phule Pune University set them, in the order it set them. Nothing has been reworded, added or left out. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 70 · 13 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
SECTION I
PART A
Answer any TWO · 30 Marks
Q1)What is Economics? Explain its meaning, definition, and scope.[15]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the meaning of economics and the economic problem (unlimited wants, scarce means, alternative uses); the four classic definitions: Adam Smith (wealth, 1776), Marshall (material welfare, 1890), Robbins (scarcity and choice, 1932) and Samuelson (growth), with their criticisms; the nature of economics (social science, positive and normative, science and art); its scope (microeconomics and macroeconomics; consumption, production, exchange, distribution, public finance); and a conclusion.
1. Meaning
Economics is the study of how people use scarce resources to satisfy their wants. Human wants are unlimited, but the means to satisfy them, land, labour, capital and time, are scarce and have alternative uses. So people, firms and governments must choose. This is the economic problem, from which the whole subject follows.
2. Definitions
(a) Wealth definition: Adam Smith (1776). In The Wealth of Nations, Smith treated economics as the study of the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. It asked how wealth is produced and increased. Criticism: it put wealth above man, and was called a "dismal science".
(b) Welfare definition: Alfred Marshall (1890). In Principles of Economics, Marshall said economics studies mankind in the ordinary business of life. It examines that part of individual and social action most closely connected with the attainment and use of the material requisites of well-being. Merits: man comes first; wealth is only a means to welfare. Criticism: "material" welfare is too narrow (services such as a teacher's are left out), and welfare cannot be measured.
(c) Scarcity definition: Lionel Robbins (1932). Robbins wrote An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science. He defined economics as the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses. His three conditions are: ends are many, means are scarce, and means have alternative uses. Merits: it is universal, scientific and covers all scarce goods and services. Criticism: it ignores growth and unemployment of resources, and treats economics as neutral between ends.
(d) Growth definition: Paul Samuelson. Samuelson added time and growth. Economics studies how society chooses to use scarce resources to produce goods over time. It also studies how they are distributed for consumption now and in the future.
3. Nature of economics
- A social science: it studies human behaviour in society.
- Positive and normative: it describes "what is" (positive) and also judges "what ought to be" (normative), as in policy on poverty.
- Science and art: it explains causes and effects systematically, and guides practical policy.
- Its laws are tendencies: they hold "other things being equal", and cannot be tested by laboratory experiment.
4. Scope of economics
(a) Microeconomics studies individual units: a consumer, a firm, an industry, one market. It covers demand, supply, production, cost and price determination. It is also called price theory.
(b) Macroeconomics studies the economy as a whole: national income, employment, the general price level, money, banking and the balance of payments. It is also called income and employment theory.
(c) The traditional divisions:
- Consumption: wants, utility and demand.
- Production: the factors of production and their organisation.
- Exchange: markets and price determination.
- Distribution: how income is shared as rent, wages, interest and profit.
- Public finance: government revenue, expenditure and debt.
(d) Modern fields: development economics, international trade, environmental economics, and law and economics, which studies the economic effects of legal rules.
5. Importance for a law student
Many laws are economic in purpose: competition law, taxation, labour law, banking and consumer protection. A lawyer needs economics to understand why these laws exist and how they work.
Conclusion
Conclusion. Economics is the study of choice under scarcity. Its definitions moved from Smith's wealth, through Marshall's material welfare and Robbins's scarcity and choice, to Samuelson's growth. It is a social science, both positive and normative. Its scope covers microeconomics and macroeconomics, consumption, production, exchange, distribution and public finance, and it supports many branches of law.
The rest of the answers
The rest of the answers come with the SPPU B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Semester 1 solved papers.
You have read the question paper and its first answer in full. Buy the solved papers once and you can read every answer of every solved paper in this semester.
Solved papers: ₹499 Already bought it? Sign in
The question paper itself stays open to everyone.
Found an error in this volume? Report it and we will check it against the paper.