A | B |
Scarcity | Conflict between unlimited wants and limited resources |
Wants | Things that are not necessary for survival but that add comfort and pleasure to our lives. |
Needs | Things that are necessary for survivial such as food, clothing and shelter |
Goods | Things you can see and touch |
Services | Things that satisfy our wants through the efforts of other people or equipment. |
Economic Resources | aka factors of production - Means through which goods and services are produced |
Opportunity Cost | What you give up when you make one choice over another; value of the next best alternative that you did not choose |
Values | The beliefs and principles you consider correct, important and desirable. |
Goals | something specific that you want to achieve |
Natural resources | Raw materials supplied by nature that come from the earth, the water, or the air and are used to produce goods |
renewable resources | resources that can be replaced. |
Nonrenewable resources | resources that cannot be replaced. |
human resources | People who contribute physical and mental energy to the production process |
capital resources | tools, equipment and buildings used to produce goods and services. |
entrepreneurial resources | the initiative to combine natural, human and capital resources to produce goods and services. |
Traditionalism | economy in which people do things the way they've always done them and centered on the family |
Communism or Command | An economy in which the government owns resources and dictates what is produced |
Mixed or Socialist | Combines elements of the command and mixed economy. An economic system in which the government owns major industries but allows for private ownership of other businesses. |
market | An economic system where goods and services are owned and controlled by the people |
Free Enterprise System | A system in which most economic resources are privately owned and decisions about production and distribution are largely made by voluntary exchange in the marketplace |
Worker productivity | The quantity of a good that an average worker can produce in an hour. |
Standard of living | a measure of how well people in a country live |
Profit | Sales minus expenses |
Consumer | person who purchases and uses goods and services |
Economic Decision Making | Process of choosing which want will be satisfied |
Tradeoff | Process of giving up something for gaining something else |
Capitalism | allows the freedom of consumption and production of goods and sevices |
Marketplace | anywhere that goods and services exchange hands |
profit | money left from sales after all of the costs of operating a business have been paid |
competition | rivalry among businesses to sell their goods and services |
consumers | buys and uses goods and services |
producers | individuals and organizations that determine what products and serices will be available for sale |
demand | quantity of goods and services that consumers are willing and able to buy. |
supply | refers to the quantity of goods or services that businesses or producers are willing and able to provide |