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model
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a simplified representation of a real situation that is used to better understand real-life situations
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production possibility frontier
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in an economy that produces only two goods, the maximum quantity of one good that can be produced for any given quantity produced of the other
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factors of production
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the resources used to produce goods and services
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technology
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the technical means of producing goods and services
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comparative advantage
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a situation in which one individual's/country's opportunity cost of producing a good or service is lower than other individuals'/countries'
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absolute advantage
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a situation in which a country can produce more output per worker than other countries or an individual is better at producing than other people
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barter
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a form of trade in which people directly exchange goods or services they have for goods or services they want
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circular-flow diagram
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an illustration of the transactions in an economy by two kinds of arrows, one showing money and one showing products
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household
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a person or group of people that share their income
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firm
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an organization that produces goods and services for sale
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markets for goods and services
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the space where firms sell goods and services they produce to households
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factor markets
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the space where firms buy the resources they need to produce goods and services
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income distribution
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the way in which total income is divided among owners of the various factors of production
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positive economics
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the branch of analysis that describes the way the economy actually works
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normative economics
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the branch that makes prescriptions about the way the economy should work
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forecast
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a simple prediction of the future
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variable
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a quantity that can take on more than one value
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causal relationship
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a situation where the value taken by one variable directly influences or determines the value taken by the other variable
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curve
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a line on a graph that depicts a relationship between two variables
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positive relationship
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a situation in which an increase in the value of one variable is associated with an increase in the value of the other variable; upward slope
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negative relationship
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a situation in which an increase in the value of one variable is associated with a decrease in the value of the other variable; downward slope
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time-series graph
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an illustration that shows dates on the horizontal axis and values of a variable that occurred on those dates on the vertical axis
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omitted variable
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an unobserved variable that, through its influence on other variables, creates the erroneous appearance of a direct causal relationship among those variables
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reverse causality
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an error in which the true direction of causality between two variables is reversed