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Scarcity
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The limited nature of society's resources.
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Economics
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The study of how society manages its scarce resources.
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Efficiency
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The property of society getting the most it can from its scarce resources.
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Equality
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The property of distributing economic prosperity uniformly among the members of society.
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Opportunity Cost
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Whatever must be given up to obtain some item
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Rational People
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People who systematically and purposefully do the best they can to achieve their objectives.
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Marginal Change
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A small incremental adjustment to a plan of action.
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Incentive
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Something that induces a person to act.
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Market Economy
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An economy that allocates resources through the decentralized decisions of many firms and households as they interact in markets for goods and services.
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Property Rights
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The ability of an individual to own and exercise control over scarce resources.
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Market Failure
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A situation in which a market left on its own fails to allocate resources efficiently.
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Externality
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The impact of one person's actions on the well-being of a bystander.
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Market Power
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The ability of a single economic actor (or small group of actors) to have a substantial influence on market prices.
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Productivity
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The quantity of goods and services produced from each unit of labor input.
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Inflation
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An increase in the overall level of prices in the economy.
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Business Cycle
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Fluctuations in economic activity, such as employment and production.
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Circular-Flow Diagram
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A visual model of the economy that shows how dollars flow through markets among households and firms.
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Production Possibilities Frontier
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A graph that shows the combinations of output that the economy can possibly produce given the available factors of production and the available production technology.
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Microeconomics
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The study of how households and firms make decisions and how they interact in markets.
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Macroeconomics
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The study of economy-wide phenomena, including inflation, unemployment, and economic growth.
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Positive Statements
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Claims that attempt to describe the world as it is.
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Normative Statements
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Claims that attempt to prescribe how the world should be.
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Absolute Advantage
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The ability to produce a good using fewer inputs than another producer.
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Comparative Advantage
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The ability to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than another producer.
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Imports
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Goods produced abroad and sold domestically.
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Exports
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Goods produced domestically and sold abroad.
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Market
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A group of buyers and sellers of a particular good or service.
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Competitive Market
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A market in which there are many buyers and many sellers so that each has a negligible impact on the market price
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Quantity Demanded
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The amount of a good that buyers are willing and able to purchase.
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Law of Demand
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The claim that, other things being equal, the quantity demanded of a good falls when the price of the goods rises.
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Demand Schedule
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A table that shows the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity demanded.
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Demand Curve
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A graph of the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity demanded.
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Normal Good
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A good for which, other things being equal, an increase in income leads to an increase in demand.
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Inferior Good
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A good for which, other things being equal, an increase in income leads to a decrease in demand.
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Substitutes
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Two goods for which an increase in the price of one leads to an increase in the demand for the other.
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Complements
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Two goods for which an increase in the price of one leads to a decrease in the demand for the other.
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Quantity Supplied
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The amount of a good that sellers are willing and able to sell.
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Law of Supply
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The claim that, other things being equal, the quantity supplied of a good rises when the price of the good rises.
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Supply Schedule
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A table that shows the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity supplied.
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Supply Curve
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A graph of the relationship between the price of good and the quantity supplied.
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Equilibrium
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A situation in which the market price has reached the level at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded.
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Equilibrium price
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The price that balances quantity supplied and quantity demanded.
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Equilibrium quantity
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The quantity supplied and the quantity demanded at the equilibrium price.
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Surplus
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A situation in which quantity supplied is greater than quantity demanded.
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Shortage
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A situation in which quantity demanded is greater than quantity supplied.
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Law of Supply and Demand
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The claim that the price of any good adjusts to bring the quantity supplied and the quantity demanded for that good into balance.