| A | B |
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| adverse selection problem | a problem arising when information known to one party to a contract or agreeement in now known to the other party, causing latter to incur major costs. |
| Aggregate | the conglomeration of different perspectives into a universal belief or data |
| alcoa case | a 1945 case in which the courst ruled that the possession of monopoly power, no matter how reasonably that power had been used, was a violation of the antitrust laws; temporarily overturned the rule of reason applied in the U.S. Steel case |
| Allocative efficiency | The apportionment of resources among firms and industries to obtain the production most wanted by society; the output of each product at which its marginal cost and price or marginal benefit are equal. |
| allocative efficiency | The apportionment of resources among firms and industries to obtain the production most wanted by society; the output of each product at which its marginal cost and price or marginal benefit are equal. |
| antitrust policy | The use of the antitrust laws to promote competition and economic efficiency |
| asymetric information | A situation where one party to a market transaction has uch more information about a product or service than the other. The result may be an under-or over allocation of resources. |
| average fixed cost (AFC) | a firm's total fixed cost divided by output |
| average product (AP) | The total output produced per unit of a resource employed |
| average revenue | Total revenue from the sale of a product divided by the quantity of the product sold. Equal to the price at which the product is sold when all units of the product are sold at the same price. |
| average total cost (ATC) | a firm's total cost divided by output |
| average variable cost (AVC) | a firm's total variable cost divided by output |
| barriers to entry | Anything that artifically prevents the entry of firms into an industry |
| barter | The exchange of one good or service for another good or service |
| break-even point | Any output at which a firm makes a normal profit, but not an economic profit |
| budget constraint | The limit that the size of a consumerÕs income and prices imposes on the ability of the consumer to obtain goods and services |
| Capital | assets, such as money used towards the goal of producing goods |
| Capital goods | goods or services used in the aiding of producing good or services that satisfy the consumer, but don?t directly satisfy the consumer themselves, such as factories or shipping trucks. |
| cartel | A formal agreement among firms in an industry to set the price of a product and establish the outputs of the individual firms or to divide the market for the product geographically |
| cease-and-desist order | An order from a court or government agency to a corporation on individual to stop engaging in a specified practice |
| celler-kefauver act | The federal act of 1950 that amended the Clayton Act by prohibiting the acquisition of the assets of one firm by another firm when the effect would be less competition |
| Change in demand | A change in the quantity demanded of a good or service at every price; a shift of the demand curve to the left or right |
| Change in quantity demand | A change in the amount of a product that consumers are willing and able to purchase because of a change in the productÕs price |
| Change in quantity supplied | A change in the amount of a product that producers offer for sale because of a change in the productÕs price. |
| Change in supply | A change in the quantity supplied of a good or service at every price; a shift of the supply curve left or right. |
| circular flow diagram | an illustration showing the flow of reources from households to firms of products from firms to households. These flows are accompanied by reverse flows of money from firms to households and from households to firms |
| clayton act | The Federal antitrust act of 1914 that strenghtened the Sherman Act by making it illegal for firms to engage in certain specified practices |
| Coase theorem | The idea that externalities can be resolved through private negotiations of the affected parties |
| collusion | a situation in which firms act together and in agreement to fix prices, divide a market, or otherwise restrict competition. |
| command system | a method of organizing an economy in which property resources are publicly owned and government uses central economic planning to direct economic activities. |
| competition | The presence in a market of independent buyers and sellers competing with one another along with the freedom of buyers and sellers to enter and leave the market |
| Complementary good | Products and services that are used together |
| concentration ratio | The percentage of the total sales of an industry made by the four largest sellers in the industry |
| conglomerate merger | The merger of a firm in one industry with a firm in another industry (with a firm that is not a supplier, customer, or competitor) |
| constant returns to scale | unchanging average total cost of producing a product as the firm expands the size of its plant in the long run |
| constant-cost industry | An industry in which the expansion by the entry of new firms has no effect on the prices firms in the industry must pay for resources and no effect on production costs. |
| Consumer goods | goods produces that satisfy the general population of buyers |
| consumer sovereignty | determination by consumers of the types and quantities of goods and services that will be produced with the scarce resources of the economy; consumers' direction of production through their dollar votes |
| consumer surplus | The difference between the maximum price a consumer is willing to pay for an additional unit of a procuct and its market price; the triangular area below the demand curve and above market price |
| cost-benefit analysis | a comparison fo the marginal costs of a government program with the marginal benefits to decide whether or not to employ resources in that project or program and to what extent. |
| creative destruction | The hypothesis that the creation of tnew products and production methods simultaneosly destroys the market power of existing monopolies |
| cross elasticity of demand | the ratio fo the percentage change in quantity demanded of one good to the percentage change int eh price of some other good. a positive coefficient indicates substitutes, a negative coefficient indicates they are complementary |
| decreasing cost industry | An industry in which expansion through the entry of firms lowers the prices that firms in the industry must pay for resources and decreases production costs |
| Demand | A schedule or a curve that shows the various amounts of a product that consumers are willing and able to purchase at each of a series of possible prices during a specified period of time. |
| Demand curve | the inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded represented on a simple graph |
| Dependent variable | the calculated value used in expressing a relationship or situation |
| derived demand | The demand for a resource that depends on the demand for the products it helps to produce. |
| Determinants of demand | Factors other than price that determine the quantities demanded of a good or service. |
| Determinants of supply | Factors other than the price that determine the quantities supplied of a good or service |
| differentiated oligopoly | An oligopoly in which the firms produce a differentiated product |
| Diminishing marginal utility | the diminishing factor of the extra utility a consumer obtains from the consumption of 1 additional unit of a good or service; equal to the change in total utility divided by the change in the quantity consumed. |
| diseconomies of scale | increases in the average total cost of producing a produt as the firm expands the size of its plant in the long run |
| division of labor | The separation of the work required to produce a product into a number of different tasks that are performed by different workers |
| dollar votes | the votes that consumers and entrepreneurs cast for the production of consumer and capital goods, respectively, when they purchase those goods in product and resource markets |
| DuPont cellophane case | The antitrust case brought agains DuPont in which the US Supreme court ruled in 1956 that while DuPont had a monopoly in the narrowly defined market for cellophane, it did not monopolize the more broadly defined market for flexible packaging materials. It was not guilty of violatinog the Sherman Act |
| economic cost | a payment that must be made to obtain and retain the services of a resource; the income a firm must provide to a resource supplier to attract the resource away from an alternative use |
| economic or pure profit | Total revenue less its economic costs |
| economic profit | the total revenue of a firm less its economic costs "pure profit" |
| economic rent | The price paid for the use of land and other natural resources, the supply of which is fixed. |
| Economics | the social science of an individual or institution making the optimal choice when faced with scarcity |
| economies of scale | reductions in in the average total cost of producting a product as the fimr expands the size of plant or output in the long run |
| Economizing problem | the choices necessitated because society?s economic wants for goods and services are unlimited but the resources available to satisfy these wants are limited. |
| efficiency losses (deadweight losses) | reductions in combined consumer and producer surplus caused by an underallocation or overallocation of rerources to the production of a good or service. |
| elastic demand | product or resource demand whose price elasticity is greater than 1 |
| elasticity of resource demand | a measure of the responsiveness of firms to a change in the price of a particular resource they employ or use; the percentage change int he quantity of the resource demanded divided by the percentage change in its price |
| Equilibrium price | The price in a competitive market at which the quantity demanded and the quantity supplied are equal, there is neither a shortage not a surplus, and there is no tendency for price to rise or fall. |
| Equilibrium quantity | (1) The quantity demanded and supplied at the equilibrium price in a competitive market; (2) the profit-maximizing output of a firm. |
| excess capacity | plant resources that are underused when imperfectly competitive firms produce less output than that associated with achieving minimum average total cost |
| explicit costs | The monetary payment a firm must make to an outsider to obtain a resource |
| externalities | a cost or benefit from production of consumption accruing without compensation to someone other than the buyers and sellers of the product |
| Factors of production | land, labor, capital and entrepreneurial ability |
| fair-return price | the price of a product that enables its producer to obtain a normal profit and that is equal to the ATC |
| federal trade commission act | The Federal act of 1914 that established the Federal Trade Commission |
| fixed costs | Any cost that in total does not change when the firm changes its output |
| free-rider problem | The inability of potential providers of an economically desirable good or service to obtain payment from those who benefit, because of nonexcludability |
| freedom of choice | The freedom of owners of property resources to employ or dispose of they as they see fit, of workers to enter any line of work for which they are qualified, and of consumers to spend their incomes in a manner that they think is appropriate. |
| freedom of enterprise | The freedom of firms to obtain economic resources, to use those resources to produce products of ther form's own choosing, and to sell their products in markets of their choice. |
| game-theory model | a means of analyzing the pricing behavior of oligopolists that uses the theory of strategy associated with games such as chess or bridge. |
| herfincahl index | a measure of the concentration and competitiveness of an industry; calculated as the sum of the squared percentage market shares of the individual firms in the industry. |
| homogeneous oligopoly | an oligopoly in which the firms produce a standardized product |
| horizontal merger | the merger into a single firm of two firms producing the same product and selling it in the same geogrpahic market. |
| imperfect competition | all market structures except perfect competition |
| implicit costs | the monetary income a firm sacrifices when it uses a resource it owns rather than supplying the resource in the market; equal to what the resource could have earned in the best-paying alternative employment; includes normal profit |
| implicit costs | the monetary income a firm sacrifices when it uses a resource it owns rather than supplying the resource in the market; equal to what the resource could have earned in the best-paying alternative employment; includes normal profit |
| import competition | the competition that domestic firms encounter form the products and services of foreign producers |
| incentive function | the inducement that an increase in the price of a commodity gives to sellers to make more of it available. |
| Income effect | A change in the quantity demanded of a product that results from the change in real income (purchasing power) caused by a change in the productÕs price |
| income effect | a change in the quantity demanded of a good or service at every price; a shift of the demand curve to the left or right |
| income elasticity of demand | the ratio of the percentage change in the quantity demanded of a good to percentage change in consumer income |
| increasing -cost industry | an industry in which expansion through the entry of firms raises the prices firms in the industry must pay for resources and therefore increases their production costs. |
| Independent variable | the measures value used in expressing a relationship or situation (what you plug in) |
| industrial regulation | The older and more traditional type of regulation in which government is concerned with the prices charged and the services provided tot he public in specific industries. |
| inelastic demand | product or resource demand for which the elasticity coefficient for price is less than 1. |
| Inferior good | A good or service whose consumption declines as income rises (and conversely), price remaining constant |
| insurable risks | an event that would result in a loss but whose frequency of occurrence can be estimated with considerable accuracy. Insurance companies are willing to sell insurance against such losses |
| interindustry competition | the competiton for sales between products of one industry and the products of another industry |
| interlocking directorates | a situation where one or more membrs of the board of directors of a corporation are alos on the board of directors of a competing corporation, illegal under the Clayton Act |
| invisible hand | The tendency of firms and resource suppliers that seek to further their own self-interests in competitive markets to also promote the interest of society |
| kinked-demand curve | the demand curve for a noncollusive oligopoist, which is based ont he assumption that rivals will match a rpice decrease and will ingnore a price increase |
| Labor | the mental, physical or entrepreneurial ability of people on the production of goods or services |
| Land | any natural resource, physical space, water, trees, etc. |
| Law of demand | The principle that, other things equal, an increase in the price of a product will decrease the quantity of it demanded, and conversely for a price decrease. |
| law of diminishing marginal utility | the principle that as a consumer increases the consumption of a good or service, the marginal utility obtained from each additional unit of the good or service decreases. |
| law of diminishing returns | The principle that as successive increments of a variable resource are added to a fixed resource, the marginal product of the variable resource will eventually decrease |
| Law of increasing opportunity costs | as the amount of produces goods and service increases so does the opportunity cost per unit |
| Law of supply | The principle that, other things equal, an increase in the price of a product will increase the quantity of it supplied, and conversely for a price decrease. |
| least-cost combination of resources | the quantity of each resource a firm must employ to produce a particular output at the lowest cost. the combination in which the Marginal Product of a resource is equal to its marginal cost |
| legal cartel theory of regulation | the hypothesis that some industries seek regulatio or want to maintain so that they may form or maintain a legal cartel |
| loanable funds theory of interest | the concept that the supply of and demand for loanable funds determine the equilibrium rate of interest. |
| long run | in microeconomics a period of time long enough to enable producers of a product to change the quantities of all the resources they employ |
| long-run supply curve | a curve showing the prices at which a purely competitive industry will make various quantities of the product available in the long run |
| Macroeconomics | the study of the financial wellbeing of an entire economy as a whole, such as a nation?s economy |
| marginal-cost-marginal benefit rule | as it applies to cost benefit analysis; the tenet that a government project or program should be expanded to the point where the marginal cost and marginal benefit of additional expenditures are equal. |
| Marginal analysis | the comparison of marginal costs to marginal benefits given a certain situation |
| marginal cost (MC) | the extra cost of producing 1 more unit of output; equal to the change in total cost divided by the change in output |
| marginal product (MP) | the additional output produced when 1 additional unit of a resource is employed (ceteris paribus) equal to the change in total product divided by the change in the quantity of a resource employed |
| marginal productivity theory of income distribution | the contention that the distribution of income is equitable when each unit of each resource receives a money payment equal to its marginal contribution to the firmÕs revenue |
| marginal resource cost (MRC) | the amount the total cost of employing a resource increases when a firm employs 1 additional unit of the resource (ceteris paribus) equal to the change in the total cost of the resource divided by the change in the quantity of the resource employed. |
| marginal revenue | the change in total revenue that results from the sale of 1 additional unit of a firmÕs product; equal to the change in total revenue divided by the change in quantity of product sold. |
| marginal revenue product | the change in a firmÕs total revenue when it employs 1 additional unit of a resource (ceteris paribus) equal to the change in total revenue divided by the change in the quantity of the resource employed |
| marginal utility | the extra utility a consumer obtains from the consumption of 1 additional unit of a good or service; equal to the change in total utility divided by the change in quantity consumed |
| market | Any institution or mechanism that brings together buyers and sellers of a particular good of service |
| market for externality rights | a market in which firms can buy rights to discharge pollutants. the price of such rights is determined by the demand for the right to discharge pollutants and a perfectly inelastic supply of such rights. |
| market period | a period in which producers of a product are unable to change the quantity produced in response to a change in its price and in which there is a perfectly inelastic supply |
| market system | all the product and resource markets of a market economy and the relationships among them; a method that allows the prices determined in those markets to allocate the economy's scarce resources and to communicate and coordinate the decisions made by consumers, firms and resource suppliers |
| medium of exchange | Any item sellers generally accept and buyers generally use to pay for a good of service; money; a convenient means of exchanging goods and services without engaging in barter |
| Microeconomics | the study of the individual?s financial wellbeing based on personal income and economic needs |
| microsoft case | a 2002 antitrust case in which microsoft was found guilty of violating the Sherman Act by engaging in a series of unlawful activities designed to maintain its monopoly in operating systems for personal computers; as a remedy the company was prohibited from engaging in a set of specific anticompetitive business practices |
| midpoint formula | a method for calculating price elasticity of demand or price elasticity of supply that averages the two prices and tow quantities as the reference points for computing percentages |
| minimum efficient scale (MES) | the lowest level of output at which a firm can minimize long-run average total cost |
| money | any item that is generally acceptable to sellers in exchange for goods and services |
| monopolistic competition | a market structure in which many firms sell a dirrerentiated product, into which entry is relatively easy, thte firm has some control over its product price, considerable non price competition |
| moral hazard problem | the possibility that individuals or institutions will chang their behavior as a result of a contract or agreement: Ie a bank with insured deposits might make riskier decisions |
| MR=MC rule | the pricniple that a firm will maximize its profit by producing the output at which marginal revenue and marginal cost are equal, provided product price is equal to or greater than AVC |
| MRP=MRC rule | the principle that to maximize profit a firm shold employ the quantity of a resource at which its marginal revenue product is equal to its marginal resource cost, MRC being the wage rate in a perfectly competitive market |
| mutual interdependence | a situation in which a change in price strategy by one firm will affect the sales and profits on another firm. Any firm that makes such a change can expect the other rivals to react to the change. |
| natural monopoly | An industry in which economies of scale are so great that a single firm can produce the product at a lower average total cost than would be possible if more than one firm produced the product |
| network effects | increases in the value of a product to each user, including existing users, as the total number of users rises |
| nominal interest rate | the interest rate expressed in terms of annual amounts currently charged for interest and not adjusted for inflation |
| nonprice competition | competition based on distinguishing oneÕs product by means of product differentiation and then advertising the distinguished product to consumers |
| Normal goods | A good or service whose consumption increases when income increases and falls when income decreases |
| normal profit | the payment made by a firm to obtain and retain entrepreneurial ability; the minimum income entrepreneurial ability must receive to induce it to perform entrepreneurial functions for a firm |
| oligopoly | a market structure in which a few firms sell either a standardized or differentiated product, into which entry is difficult, in which the firm has limited control over product price because of mutual interdependence, and in which there is usually non price competition |
| Opportunity cost | the sacrifice made in order to take advantage of an economic opportunity such as producing a good or service |
| optimal reduction of an externality | the reduction of a negative externality such as pollution to the level at which the marginal benefit and marginal cost of recuction are equal |
| Other things equal assumption | all other variables not included in the data is said to be held at a constant |
| output effect | an increase in the price of one input wil increase a firmÕs production costs and reduce it level of output, thus reducing the demand for other inputs, conversely for a decrease in the price of the input. |
| per se violations | collusive actions (price fixing) that violate antitrust laws, even if the actions themselves are unsuccessful |
| perfectly elastic demand | product or resource demand in which quantity demanded can be of any amount at a particular product or resource price; graphs as a horizontal demand curve |
| perfectly inelastic demand | product or resource demand in which price can be of any amount at a particular quantity of the product or resource demanded; quantity demanded does not respond to a change in price; graphs as a vertical demand curve |
| Price ceiling | sets the maximum legal price a seller may charge for a product or service |
| price discrimination | the selling of a product to differnt buyers at different prices when the price differences are not justified by differences in cost |
| price elasticity of demand | the ratio of the percentage change in the quantity demanded of a good to percentage change in its price; a measure of the responsiveness of buyers to a change in the price of a product or resource |
| price elasticity of supply | the ratio of the percentage change in the quantity supplied of a product or response to the percentage change in its price |
| Price floor | a minimum price fixed by the government. A price at or above is legal; a price below it is not. |
| price leadership | an informal method that firms in an oligopoly may employ to set the price of their product; One firm is the first to announce a change in price, and the other firms soon announce identical or similar changes. |
| price taker | a seller or buyer of a product or resource that is unable to affect the price at which a product or resource sells by changing the amount it sells or buys |
| price war | successive and continued decreases in the prices charged by firms in an oligopolistic industry. Each firm lowers its price below rivalsÕ prices, hoping to increase its sales and revenues at its rivals expense |
| private goods | a good or service that is individuallly consumed and that can be profitably provided by privately owned firms because they can exclude nonpayers from receiving the benefits |
| private property | The right of private persons and firms to obtain, own, control, employ, dispose of and bequeath land, capital, and other property |
| producer surplus | the difference between the acutal price a producer receives and the minimum acceptable price; the triangular area above the supply curve and below the market price |
| product differentiation | one firmÕs product is distinguished from competing products by means of its design, related services, quality, location, or other attributes |
| product market | a market in which products are sold by firms and bought by households |
| Production possibilities curve | the direct relationship between 2 goods based upon full employment and full resources, showing the ability to produce each item in conjunction with the production of the other |
| Productive efficiency | The production of a good in the least costly way; occurs when production takes place at the output at which average total cost is a minimum and marginal product per dollarÕs worth of input is the same for all inputs |
| profit maximizing combination of resources | the quantity of each resource a firm must employ to maximize its profit or minimize its loss (MRP=MRC) |
| public goods | a good or service that is characterized by nonrivalry and nonexcludability; a good or service with these characteristics provided by government |
| public interest theory or regulation | the presumption that the purpose of the regulation on an industry is to protect the public consumers from abuse of the power possessed by natural monopolies |
| pure competition | very large number of firms selling a standardized product, entry is very easy, seller has no control over price |
| pure monopoly | a market structure in which one firm sells a unique product, into which entry is blocked, a single firm has considerable control over product price, nonprice competition may or may not be found |
| pure rate of interest | an essentially risk free, long-term interest rate that is free of the influence of market imperfections |
| rational behavior | human behavior based on comparison of marginal costs and marginal benefits; behavior designed to maximize total utility |
| real interest rate | the interest rate expressed in dollars constant value (adjusted for inflation) and equal to the nominal interest rate adjusted for inflation |
| rent-seeking behavior | the actions by persons, firms, or unions to gain special benefits from government at the taxpayerÕs or soemone elseÕs expense |
| resource market | a market in which households sell and firms buy resources or the services of resources |
| rule of reason | the rule stated and applied in the US Steel case that only combinations and contracts unreasonably restraining trade are subject to actions under the antitrust laws and that size and possession of monopoly power are not illegal |
| self interest | That which each firm, property owner, worker, and consumer believes is best for itself and seeks to obtain |
| sherman act | The Federal act of 1890 antitrust act that makes monopoly and conspiracies to restrain free trade criminal offenses |
| short run | in microeconomics, a period of time in which producers are able to change the quantities of some but not all of the resources they employ |
| short-run supply curve | a supply curve that shows the quantity of a product a firm in a purely competitive industry will offer to sell at various prices in the short run; the portion of the firmÕs short run marginal cost curve that lies above its AVC |
| Shortage | The amount by which the quantity demanded of a product exceeds the quantity supplied at a particular (below equilibrium) price |
| simultaneous consumption | the same time derivation of utility from some product by a large number of consumers |
| social regulation | regulation in which government is concerned with the conditions under which goods and services are produced, their phycical characteristics, and the impact of their production on society |
| socially optimal price | the price of a product results in the most efficient allocation of an economyÕs resources and that is equal to the marginal cost of the product |
| specialization | The use of the resources of an individual, a firm, a region, or a nation to concentrate production on one or a small number of goods and services |
| standard oil case | 1911 antitrust case in which standard oil was found guilty of violating the Sherman Act by illegally monopolizing the petroleum industry. The company was split up into several operating firms. |
| static economy | a hypothetical economy in which the basic forces such as resource supplies, technological knowledge, and consumer tastes are constant and unchanging |
| strategic behavior | self intersted economic actions that take into account the expected reactions of others |
| Substitution effect | (1) A change in the quantity demanded of a consumer good that results from a change in its relative expensiveness caused by a change in the productÕs price; (2) the effect of a change in the price of a resource on the quantity of the resource employed by a firm, assuming no change in its output. |
| substitution effect | a change in the quantity demanded of a consumer good that results from a change in its relative expensiveness caused by a change in the productÕs price (2) the effect of a change in the price of a resource on the quantity of the resource employed by a firm, assuming no change in its output |
| Supply | A schedule showing the amounts of a good or service that sellers will offer at various prices during some period. |
| Supply curve | The positive relationship between price and quantity represented on a graph |
| Surplus | The amount by which the quantity supplied of a product exceeds the quantity demanded at a specific (above equilibrium) price |
| tactit understandings | any method used by an oligopolist to set prices and outputs that does not involve outright collusion |
| total cost (TC) | the sum of fixed and variable cost |
| total produt (TP) | the total output of a particular good or service produced by a firm. |
| total revenue | total number of dollars received by a firm from the sale of a product; equal to the total expenditures for the product produced by the firm; equal to the quantity sold multiplied by the price |
| total revenue test | a test to determine elasticity of demand between any two prices; demand is elastic if total revenue moves in the oppostie direction from price; it is inelastic when it moves in the same direction as price; unitary when equal to price change |
| total utility | the total amount of satisfaction derived from the consumption of a single product or a combination of products |
| tragedy of the commons | the tendency for commonly owned natural resources to be overused, neglected, or degraded because their common ownership gives nobody incentive to maintain or improve them |
| tying contracts | a requirement imposed by a seller that a buyer purchase another of its products as a condition for buying a desired product; a practice forbidden by the Clayton Act |
| U.S. Steel case | the antitrust action brought by the federal government against US Steel in which the courts ruled that only unreasonable restraints of trade were illegal and that size and the possession of monopoly power were not violations of the antitrust law |
| uninsurable risks | an event that would result in a loss and whose occurrence is uncontrollable and unpredictable. |
| unit elasticity | demand or supply for which the elasticity coefficient is equal to 1 |
| usury laws | state laws that specify the maximum legal interest rate at which loans can be made |
| Utility | the pleasure or happiness gained from the consumption of goods or services |
| utility maximizing rule | the principle that to obtain the greatest utility, the consumer should allocate money income so that the last dollar spent on each good or service yields the same marginal utility |
| variable costs | a cost that in total increases when the firm increases its output and decreases when the firm reduces its output |
| vertical merger | the merger of one or more firms engaged in different stages of the production of a final product |
| wheeler-lea act | the federal act of 1938 that ammended the federal trade commission act by prohibiting and giving the commission power to investigate unfair and deceptive acts of commerce |
| X-inefficiency | the production of output whatever its level, at a higher average cost than i necessary for producing that level of output |
