ECONOMY, the thrifty management of the financial re sources of a household or of an individual, hence a "saving," not only of money, but of time, labour or effort, and generally, the least expenditure of means to attain a required end. "Economy" is also used in theology in such expressions as "Mosaic" or "Chris tian economy" as a synonym of "dispensation," for the adminis tration of the world by God at particular times or for particular races. From the meaning of organization or administration of a house or State the word is applied more widely to the ordered arrangement of any organized body, and is equivalent almost to "system"; thus the "economy" of nature or of animal or plant life may be spoken of. "Political economy" is the science dealing with the production, distribution and consumption of wealth (see