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"ECONOMIC", programmatically and philospohically 
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Some of what I have said about "real" and its family might be said about 
"economic" too.  Economists use the terms 
    economic efficiency 
    economic profit 
in contrast to 
    engineering efficiency, technological efficiency, etc 
    accounting profit, operating profit, etc 
to denote both their subject matter (programmatic use of "economic" to say 
what should be the object of study) and to make claims regarding what is 
important (philosophical, perhaps I should say theoretical, tenets about 
the presumed object of study). 
 
Thus economic efficiency is what economists study and engineering 
efficiency is what engineers study.  But economists also say, in effect, 
"engineers make the mistake of studying engineering efficiency". 
 
----Paul 
 
Paul Wendt 
Subscriptions Editor, HES 
 
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