| A | B |
|---|
| economics | The social science dealing with the use of scarce resources to obtain the maximum satisfaction of societys virtually unlimited economic wants. |
| economic perspective | A viewpoint that envisions individuals and institutions making rational decisions by comparing the marginal benefits and marginal costs asso ciated with their actions. |
| marginal analysis | The comparison of marginal (extra or additional) benefits and marginal costs, usually for decision making. |
| scientific method | The procedure for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the observation of facts and the formulation and testing of hypotheses to obtain theories, principles, and laws. |
| theoretical economics | The process of deriving and ap plying economic theories and principles. |
| policy economics | The formulation of courses of action to bring about desired economic outcomes or to prevent undesired occurrences. |
| tradeoff | The sacrifice of some or all of one economic goal, good, or service to achieve some other goal, good, or service. |
| macroeconomics | The part of economics concerned with the economy as a whole; with such major aggregates as the household, business, and government sectors; and with measures of the total economy. |
| microeconomics | The part of economics concerned with such individual units as industries, firms, and households and with individual markets, specific goods and services, and product and resource prices. |
| positive economics | The analysis of facts or data to establish scientific generalizations about economic behavior. |
| normative economics | The part of economics involving value judgments about what the economy should be like; focused on which economic goals and policies should be implemented; policy economics. |
| fallacy of composition | The false notion that what is true for the individual (or part) is necessarily true for the group (or whole). |
| after this, therefore because of this fallacy | The false belief that when one event precedes another, the first event must have caused the second event. Also called the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy |
| other-things-equal assumption | The assumption that factors other than those being considered are held constant. Also called the ceteris paribus assumption. |
