Econ Unit One Vocab

Front 1

accumulation

Back 1

gradual collection of goods

Front 2

capital good

Back 2

tool, equipment, other manufactured good used to produce other goods & services

Front 3

consumer good

Back 3

good intended for final use by consumers rather than businesses

Front 4

division of labor

Back 4

division of work into a number of separate tasks to be performed by different workers, same as specialization

Front 5

durable good

Back 5

a good that lasts for at least three years when used regularly

Front 6

economic growth

Back 6

increase in a nation's total output of goods and services over time

Front 7

economic interdependence

Back 7

mutual dependence of one person's, firm's, or regions economic activities on another

Front 8

economics

Back 8

social science dealing w/the sutdy of how ppl satisfy seemingly unlimited and competing wants with the careful use of scarce resources

Front 9

factor market

Back 9

market where productive resources are bought & sold

Front 10

good

Back 10

tangible economic product that is useful, relatively scarce, transferable to others; used to satisfy wants & needs

Front 11

gross domestic product (GDP)

Back 11

total dollar value of all final goods, services, structures produced in one year w/ labor & property supplied by a country's residents, regardless of where the production takes place, largest measure of a nations income

Front 12

human capital

Back 12

people's skills + abilities + health + motivation

Front 13

market

Back 13

meeting place or mechanism allowing buys and sellers of an economic product to come together; may be local, regional, national, or global

Front 14

mechanism

Back 14

process

Front 15

need

Back 15

basic requirement for survival, food clothing, shelter

Front 16

nondurable good

Back 16

lasts fewer than three years when used regularly

Front 17

paradox of value

Back 17

apparent contradiction btwn the high value of a nonessential item & and low value of an essential item (water & diamonds)

Front 18

product market

Back 18

market where goods & services are bought & sold

Front 19

productivity

Back 19

measure of the amount of output produced with a given amount of productive factors, normally refers to labor, but can apply to all factors of production

Front 20

resource

Back 20

any available means for economic or political development

Front 21

scarcity

Back 21

fundamental economic problem facing all societies that results from a combo of scare resources and peoples virtually unlimited wants

Front 22

service

Back 22

work or labor performed for someone, economic product...haircuts, home repairs, entertainment

Front 23

transferable

Back 23

able to be moved from one person or place to another

Front 24

utility

Back 24

ability or capacity of a good or service to be useful and give satisfaction to someone

Front 25

value

Back 25

worth of a good or service to be useful as determined by the market

Front 26

want

Back 26

something we would like to have but that isnt necessary for survival

Front 27

wealth

Back 27

sum of all tangible economic goods that are scarce, useful, and transferable from one person to another...excludes services

Front 28

accommodate

Back 28

to allow for

Front 29

adverse

Back 29

unfavorable or harmful

Front 30

allocate

Back 30

to assign

Front 31

alternative

Back 31

the second of two choices

Front 32

assumption

Back 32

something taken for granted

Front 33

capitalism

Back 33

economic system in which private citizens own and use the factors of production in order to generate profits

Front 34

catalyst

Back 34

something that stimulates activity among people or forces

Front 35

communism

Back 35

factors of production are collectively owned and directed by the state, theoretically classless society in which everyone works for the common good

Front 36

consumer sovereignty

Back 36

role of consumer as ruler of the market when determining the types of goods and services produced

Front 37

cost-benefit analysis

Back 37

comparing the cost of an action to its benefits

Front 38

economic model

Back 38

macroeconomic expression used to describe how the economy is expected to perform in the future

Front 39

economic system

Back 39

organized way a society provides for the wants and needs of its people

Front 40

fixed income

Back 40

income that does not increase even though prices go up

Front 41

free enterprise economy

Back 41

market economy in which privately owned businesses have the freedom to operate for a profit with limited government intervention

Front 42

incentive

Back 42

something that motivates

Front 43

inflation

Back 43

rise in general level of prices

Front 44

minimum wage

Back 44

lowest legal wage that can be paid to most workers

Front 45

opportunity cost

Back 45

cost of the next best alternative use of money, time, or resources when one choice is made rather than another

Front 46

profit motive

Back 46

driving force that encourages people and organizations to improve their material well-being, characteristic of capitalism and free enterprise

Front 47

regulator

Back 47

someone or something that controls activities

Front 48

social security

Back 48

fed program of disability and retirement benefits that covers most working people

Front 49

socialism

Back 49

economic system in which govt owns some factors of production and has a role in determining what and how goods are produced

Front 50

stagnation

Back 50

lack of movement

Front 51

standard of living

Back 51

quality of life based on ownership of necessities and luxuries that make life easier

Front 52

trade-off

Back 52

alternative that must be given up when one choice is made rather than another