Term | Definition |
European Union – | economic and political union of 28 European nations |
Maastricht Treaty – | legal document which created the European Union |
Treaty of Lisbon – | legal document which amended and consolidated the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Rome, and which forms the basis of the current constitution of the European Union |
Balkans – | the countries of Europe’s southeastern Balkan peninsula, including Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and Greece |
literate – | able to read and write in one’s native language |
literacy rate – | the percent of a nation’s population over the age of 15 who can read and write |
standard of living – | the level of wealth and material comfort available to a people |
human capital – | the knowledge, skills, and relative health of a nation’s labor force |
capital goods – | the factories, machinery, technology, etc. that are necessary to sustain a service or industry |
natural resource – | – a material on or in the earth that has economic value |
entrepreneur – | those who risk their own money and resources to create a new business or service |
private sector – | the part of the economy owned and operated by private citizens |
profit – | as a verb, to gain financially; as a noun, the economic gains of a business |
public sector – | – the part of the economy owned and operated by the national government |