| A | B |
|---|
| Capital | Material goods available for use in the production of further material goods. Wealth in the form of money or property. |
| Command Economic System | An economic system in which the government decides what goods will be produced, how and by whom products will be produced, and how goods will be distributed. There is little or no private ownership, and individuals have little say in a command economy. Few countries have solely command economies. |
| Currency | Money in any form that is accepted as the means of exchange (e.g., paper money). The name of a country’s money. |
| Currency Exchange | The exchange of one country's currency for another country's currency. |
| Embargo | A trade barrier in which a government restricts the import and/or export of goods. |
| Entrepreneur | A person who organizes a business venture and assumes the risk for it. |
| Exchange rate | The price of one country's currency expressed in another country's currency. |
| Exports | Goods and services sold to or traded with other countries. |
| Gross Domestic Product (GDP) | The total monetary value of all goods and services produced domestically by a country. It includes income earned domestically by foreigners, but does not include income earned by domestic residents on foreign ground. |
| Human Capital | The knowledge and skills that allow workers to produce goods and services and earn an income. |
| Imports | Goods brought into a country from other countries through trade or sale. |
| International Trade | The exchange of goods and services between countries. |
| Market Economic System | An economic system based on individual choices and voluntary trade. People choose to enter into business and consumers are free to spend their money as they wish. The market determines prices and wages. |
| Mixed Economic System | Has features of traditional, command and market economies. The government and market forces make decisions. |
| Natural Resource | Raw resources that are used to support life and make goods. |
| Non-renewable Resource | A natural resource which cannot be produced, grown, generated, or used on a scale which can sustain its consumption rate. |
| OPEC | Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries: an organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the production and sale of petroleum. |
| Petrochemicals | Petrochemicals are chemical products derived from petroleum. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as corn or sugar cane. |
| Product | Merchandise offered for sale. |
| Quota | A limit on the amount of a product that may be imported during a given period of time. |
| Renewable Resource | A naturally occurring raw material or from of energy derived from an endless or cyclical source, such as the sun, wind, falling water, biofuels and trees. |
| Scarcity | A small and inadequate amount of a good or service. |
| Standard of Living | Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as real (i.e. inflation adjusted) income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. |
| Supply and Demand | The principle of economics, as well as appraisal, which states that when there is an overabundance of a particular product, the price will go down; conversely, when there is a limited amount of that product, the price will go up. |
| Surplus | An overabundance of a good or service. |
| Tariff | Government tax on imports or exports usually either to raise revenue or to protect domestic firms from foreign import competition. A tariff may also be designed to correct an imbalance of payments. The money collected under tariffs is called a duty or customs duty. |
| Traditional Economic System | An economic system in which social roles and culture determine how goods are made, sold, and bought. |
