Economic activity ebbs and flows in recessions and booms. This is a major topic of research in economics. In the course of a business cycle, an economy grows and reaches a peak, characterized by free spending on the part of businesses and consumers and tight labor markets. Decline sets in after a cycle hits its peak. During the decline phase, businesses and consumers cut down on spending and economic activity comes to a standstill or declines. The Great Depression of the 1930s and the more recent Great Recession could provide input for such study.
Another area of research in economics relates to game theory. The theory of games was developed by John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. Game theory deals with competitive situations in which opponents try to maximize their own winnings or minimize the winnings of their opponents. Their version of game theory was based on the view that competitive situations are zero-sum games in which one person's winnings represent another person's losses. John Nash added to game theory with his contributions on cooperative and non-cooperative games.
The concepts of supply and demand and their application in the real world are perennial topics for economics research. Supply refers to the quantity of a good, such as Barbie dolls, that producers will make available to the market at different price points. Demand refers to the demand for a good from consumers at different price points. The market for a good, say a Barbie doll, is said to be in equilibrium when the supply of Barbie dolls equals the demand for Barbie dolls. Research can be carried out on supply and demand conditions for a variety of goods.
The labor market and job creation are another area of economics research. The inquiry could focus on what government policies lead to job creation, for instance. Governments have various policies, such as tax incentives, to induce businesses to create jobs. Businesses respond differently to different incentives. In the aftermath of recessions, this sort of research comes more to the fore as unemployment becomes an issue. For instance, job creation became a focus of the Obama administration following the Great Recession of 2007 through 2009.