Question | Answer |
barter: | the direct exchange of goods or services between people. |
bond: | a finacial promise for an investment issused by a corporation or goverment with regular interst payment and repayment at a later date |
capital resources | the physical equipment used in the production of goods and services. |
cartels | a group of seller acting together in the market. |
circular flow | the movment of resources, goods and services through an economy. as a diagram, it can show how households and buisnesses firms interact with each other in the produce resources markets. |
comand economy | a system in which decisions are made largely by authority such as a feudal lord or goverment planning agancy. |
comparaive advantagee | econmic theory that a country/ individual should sell goods and services which it can produce at relatively lower costs and buy good and services which it can produce at relatively higher costs. |
competition | the rivalry among people and or buisness firms for resources and or consumers |
consumer | one who buys or rents goods or services and uses them |
consumer price index | the price index most commonly used to measure of impact of changes in prices on households; this index is based on a standard market basket of goods and services purchased by a typical urban family. |
corporation | a buisnee firm that is owned by stockholders and is legal entity with rights to buy, sell and make contracts. its chief advantages is that each owners liability to the amount of money he or she has invested in the company. |
cost | what is given up when a choice is made; monetary and or non monetary. |
cost/benefits analysis | the process of weighing all perdicted costs against the predicted benifiits of an economic choice. |
deflation | a general decline in the price level. |
demand | the different quantities of a resource, good or service that potential buyers aer willing and able to purchase at various prices during a specific time period. |
depression | a severe recession in terms of magnitude and/ or length. |
division of labor | a method of organizing production whereby each worker specializes in part of the production process. |
economic growth | an incease in a societys output. |
economic system | the way societies organize to determind what goods and services should be produced, how goods and services should be produced and who will consume goods and services. examples include traditional, command and market. |
entrepreneur | individual who begins, manages and bears the risks of a buisness (e.g., milton hershey, F.W. Woolworth) |
equilibrium price | the outlay a which quantity demanded equals quantity suplied; market clearing price. |
exchange rate | the price of one countrys currency measured in terms of another countrys currency (e.g., American dollar in German mark, japanese yen in canadian dollar) |
federal reserve system | the "Central Bank" of the united states (consisting of the board of Governors and 12 diatrict banks) which controls monetary policy; sometimes referred to as "The Fed" or Federal Reserve. |
fiscal policy | goverment decisions on taxation and spending to achieve economic goals |
flow resources | temporal energy forces that are neither renewable nor nonrenewable, but must be used as, when and where they occur or they are lost(e.g.,wind, sunlight). |
gross domestic product | the market value of the total output of final goods and services produced by an economy in a given time period, usually 1year. |
goods | objects that can satisfy peoples wants. |
household | the group of people living together under one roof; a group of individuals whose economic decision-marking is interrelated. |
human resources | peoples intellectual and phisical abilities. |
incentives | factors that motivate or influence human behavior. |
income | payment rened by people in exchange for providing resouces used to produce goods and services. |
inflation | a general rise in the price level. |
interdependence | ideas, goods and services in one area affect decisions and events in other areas rebucing self-sufficiency. |
interest | payment made for the use of barrowed money. |
interest rate | the price of barrowed money. |
labor force | the part of the population which is employed oa actively seeking employment. |
labor union | an organization of workers seek to improve their common interests. |
labor productivity | the total output divided by the quantity of labor employed to produce it. |
law of demand | the lower price of a good or service, the greater the quantity that people will buy, all else held constant (e.g.,income, tastes). |
law of supply | the higher the price of a good or service, the grater the quantity that business will sell, all else held constant (e.g., resouce costs, technology) |
loss | the difference that arises when a firms total revenues are less then its total costs. |
macroeconomics | study of aggregate economic activity including how the economy workers as a whole. seek to identify levels of national income, output, employment and price. |
marginal analysis | a decision-making tool that weighs additional costs and benefits. |
market | a place or process through which goods and services aer exchanged. |
market economy | an economic system in wich deisions aer made largely by the interactions of buyers and sellers |
microeconomics | study of behaviors of consumers,firms and the detemination of the market price. |
mixed economy | an economic system in which decisions are made by markets , goverment antd tradition. |
monetary policy | government decisins on money supply and interest rates to achieve economic goals. |
money | a medium of exchange |
money supply | the amount of liquid assets which exists in the economy at a given time (e.g.,currency,checkable deposits,travelers' checks). |
mutual find | an investment option that uses cah from a pool of savers to buy a wide range of securities. |
natural resources | anything found in nature that can be used to produce a product (e.g.,land,water,coal). |
nonrenewable resources | finite elements that cannot be replaced once they are used (e.g.,ptroleum,minerals). |
opportunity cost | the highest valued alternative given up when a decision is made. |
output | the total amount of a commodity produced. |
partnership | a business in which ownership is shared by two or more people who receive all the profits and rewards and bear all the losses and risks |
price | the amount people pay in exchange for a particular good or service |
price index | a measure of the average level of costs at one time compared to the average level of costs at another time |
producer | one who makes goods or services |
productivity | amount of output per unit of input over a period of time.It is used to measure the efficiency with which inputs can be used |
profit | total revenue minus total costs |
progressive tax | levy for which the percentage of income used to pay the levy remains increases as the taxpayer's income increases. |
proportional tax | levy for which the percentage of income used to pay the levy remains the same as the taxpayer's income increases. |
public goods | goods and services provided by the goverment rather then by the private sector. goods and services that more than one person can use without necessarily preventing others from using them. |
public policy | a goverments course of action that guides present and future decisions. |
quantity demanded | the amount of a good or services people are willing and able to purchase at a given price during a specific time period. |
quantity supplied | the amount of a good or service people are willing and able to sell at a given price during a specific time period. |
quota | a form of import protectionism where the total quanitiy of imports of a particular commodiy is limited. |
recession | a contraction in national prodution that lasts six months or longer. a recession might be marked by jobs layoffs and high unemployment, stagnant wages reductions in retail sales and slowing of housing and car markets. |
regressive | levy for which the percentage of income used to pay the levy decreases as the taxpayers income decreases. |
renewable resources | substances that can be regenerated if used carfully (e.g., fish, timber). |
resources | inputs used to produce goods and services; categories inclube natural, human and capital. |
scarcity | an economic condition that exists when demanded is when is greater then supply. |
service | actions that are valued by others. |
sole proprietorship | a business pwned by an individual who receives all the profits and rewards and bears all the losses and risks. |
specialization | a form of division of labor in which each individual or firm concentraes its productive efforts on a single or limited number of activities. |
standard of living | a measurement of an individuals quality of life. a larger conumption of goods,services and liesure is often assumed to indicate a higher standard of living. |
stock | a certificate repersenting a share of ownership in a company. |
supply | the different quantities of a resource, goods or services that potential sellera are willing and able to sell at variou prices during a specific time period. |
tariff | surcharg placed on imported goods and services. the purpose of a tariff is to protect domestic products from foreign competition. |
tertiary | the third level of economic activity. it includes services and services-related industries. |
trade | voluntary exchange between two parties in which both parties benefit. |
trade balance | the payments of a nation that deal with merchandise imports or exports. |
traditional economy | an economic system in which decisions are made largely by reapeating the actions from an earlier time or generation. |
unemployment rate | the percentage of labor force that is actively seeking employment. |
wants | desires that can be satisfied by consumers goods,service or leisure activities. |