economics that describes the facts and theories of the economy and how the economy behaves

Positive economics is the study of "what is" in economic matters. Positive economics focuses on the analysis of and data associated with the question at hand and does not rely on personal biases, opinions, and moral beliefs -- indeed, it attempts to ignore these as best as possible. Contrast with normative economics.

Positive economics is the branch of economics that concerns the description and explanation of economic phenomena (Wong, 1087, p. 920). It focuses on facts and cause-and-effect relationships and includes the development and testing of economics theories. Earlier terms were value-free economics and its German counterpart wertfrei economics.