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Chap. 18
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Need | Requirements for survival, such as food, clothing, and shelter |
| Want | A thing we would like to have, such as entertainment, vacations, or an item that makes life more comfortable and enjoyable |
| Economics | The study of how individuals and nations make choices about ways to use scare resources to fulfill their needs and wants |
| Microeconomics | The economic behavior and decision making by individuals and small businesses |
| Macroeconomics | The economic behavior and decision making by government, whole industries, or societies |
| Economic Model | A simplified representation of the real world that economists develop to describe how the economy behaves and is expected to perform in the future |
| Economic System | The nation's way or producing things its people want and need |
| Resource | Wealth |
| Scarcity | The state of not having enough resources to produce all of the things we would like to have |
| Trade-Off | The alternative you face if you decide to do one thing rather than another |
| Opportunity Cost | The cost of the next best alternative use of time and money when choosing to do one thing rather than another |
| Marginal Cost | The additional, or extra, opportunity cost associated with an action |
| Marginal Benefit | The additional, or extra, benefit associated with an action |
| Cost-Benefit Analysis | An economic model that compares the marginal costs and marginal benefits of a decision |