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Macro
Test 1
90
Economics
Undergraduate 2
02/20/2011

Additional Economics Flashcards

 


 

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Term
economics
Definition
the study of how individuals and societies choose to use their scarce resources that nature and previous generations have provided.
Term
opportunity costs
Definition
the est alternative that we forgo, or give up, when we make a choice or decision.
Term
sunk costs
Definition
costs that cannot be avoided because they have already bee incurred
Term
efficient market
Definition
a market in which profit opportunities are eliminated almost instantaneously
Term
scarce
Definition
limited
Term
marginalism
Definition
the process of analyzing the additional or incremental costs or benefits arising from a choice or decision.
Term
industrial revolution
Definition
the period in England during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in which new manufacturing technologies and improved transportation gave rise to the modern factory system and a massive movement of the population for the countryside to the cities.
Term
microeconomics
Definition
the branch of economics that examines the functioning of individual decision-making units- that is, firms and households.
Term
macroeconomics
Definition
the branch of economics that examines the economic behavior of aggregates- income, employment, output, and so on- on a national scale.
Term
positive economics
Definition
an approach to economics that seeks to understand behavior and the operation of systems without making judgements. it describes what exists and how it works.
Term
normative economics
Definition
an approach to economics that analyzes outcomes of economic behavior, evaluates them a good or bad, and may prescribe courses of action.
Term
descriptive economics
Definition
the compilation of data that describe phenomena and facts
Term
economic theory
Definition
a statement or set of related statements about cause and effects, and action and reaction.
Term
model
Definition
a formal statement of a theory, usually a math statement of a presumed relationship between 2 or more variables.
Term
variable
Definition
a measure that can change from time to time or from observation to observation
Term
Ockham's razor
Definition
the principle that irrelevant detail should be cut away
Term
ceteris paribus
Definition
all else equal
Term
fallacy of composition
Definition
the erroneous belief that what is true for a part is necessarily true for the whole
Term
empirical economics
Definition
the collection and use of data to test economic theories
Term
efficiency
Definition
in economics, allocative efficiency. An efficient economy is one that produces what people want at least possible cost.
Term
equity
Definition
fairness
Term
economic growth
Definition
an increase in the total output of an economy
Term
stability
Definition
a condition in which national output is growing steadily, with low inflation and full employment of resources
Term
inputs or resources
Definition
anything provided by nature or previous generations that can be used directly or indirectly to satisfy human wants
Term
outputs
Definition
goods and services of value to households
Term
opportunity costs
Definition
the best alternative that we give up, or forgo, when we make a choice or decision
Term
theory of comparative advantage
Definition
Ricardos theory that specialization and free trade will benefit all trading parties, even those that may be "absolutely" more efficient producers
Term
absolute advantage
Definition
a producer has an absolute advantage over another in the production of a good or service if he or she can produce that product using fewer resources
Term
comparative advantage
Definition
a producer has a comparative advantage over another in the production of a good or service if he or she can produce that product using fewer resources.
Term
consumer goods
Definition
goods produced for present consumption
Term
investment
Definition
the process of using resources to produce new capital
Term
marginal rate of transformation (MRT)
Definition
the slope of the production possibility frontier (ppf)
Term
economic growth
Definition
an increase in the total output of an economy. it occurs when a society acquires new resources or when it learns to produce more using existing resources.
Term
command economy
Definition
an economy in which a central government either directly or indirectly sets output targets, incomes, and prices.
Term
laissez-faire economy
Definition
literally from the french: "allow them to do." An economy in which individual people and firms pursue their own self-interest without any central direction or regulation.
Term
market
Definition
the institution though which buyers and sellers interact and engage in exchange
Term
consumer sovereignty
Definition
the idea that consumers ultimately dictate what will be produced (or not produced) by choosing what to purchase (and what not to purchase).
Term
free enterprise
Definition
the freedom of individuals to start and operate private businesses in search of profits.
Term
entrepreneur
Definition
a person who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a firm, taking new product and turning it into a successful business
Term
households
Definition
the consuming units in an economy
Term
labor market
Definition
the input/factor market in which households supply work for wages to firms that demand labor
Term
capital market
Definition
the input/factor market in which households supply their savings, for interest or for claims to future profits to firms that demand funds to buy capital goods
Term
land market
Definition
the input/factor market in which households supply land or other real property in exchange for rent
Term
factors of production
Definition
the inputs into the production process. and, labor, and capital are the three key factors of production
Term
quantity demanded
Definition
the amount of a product that a household would buy in a given period if it could buy all it wanted at the current market price
Term
demand schedule
Definition
a table showing how much of a given product a household would be willing to buy at different prices
Term
demand curve
Definition
a graph illustrating how much of a given product a household would be willing to buy at different prices
Term
law of demand
Definition
the negative relationship between price and quantity demanded; as price rises, quantity demanded decreases; as price falls, quantity demanded increases.
Term
income
Definition
the sum of all a households wages, salaries, profits, interest payments, rents, and other forms of earnings in a given period of time.it is flow measure
Term
wealth or net worth
Definition
the total value of what a household owns minus what it owes. it is stock measure
Term
normal goods
Definition
goods for which demand goes up when income is higher and for which demand goes down when income is lower.
Term
inferior goods
Definition
goods for which demand trend to fall when income rises
Term
substitutes
Definition
goods that can serve as replacements for one another; when the price of one increases, demand for the other increases
Term
perfect substitutes
Definition
identical products
Term
complements, complementary goods
Definition
goods that "go together" a decrease in the price of one results in an increase in demand for the other and vice versa.
Term
shift of a demand curve
Definition
the change that takes place in a demand curve correspond to a new relationship between quantity demanded of a good and price of that good. the shift is brought about by a change in the original conditions.
Term
movement along a demand curve
Definition
the change in quantity demanded brought about bya change in price
Term
market demand
Definition
the sum of all the quantities of a good or service demanded per period by all the households buying in the market for that good or service.
Term
profit
Definition
the difference between revenues and costs
Term
quantity supplied
Definition
the amount of a particular product that a firm would be willing and able to offer for sale at a particular price during a given time period.
Term
supply schedule
Definition
a table showing how much of a product firms will sell at alternative prices.
Term
law of supply
Definition
the positive relationship between price and quantity of a good supplied: an increase in market price will lead to an increase in quantity supplied, and a decrease in market price will lead to a decrease in quantity supplied.
Term
supply curve
Definition
a graph illustrating how much of a product a firm will set at different prices.
Term
movement along the supply curve
Definition
the change in quantity supplied brought about by a change in price
Term
shift of a supply curve
Definition
the change that takes place in a supply curve corresponding to a new relationship between quantity supplied of a good and the price of that good. the shift is brought about by a change in the original conditions.
Term
Market supply
Definition
the sum of all that is supplied each period by all producers of a single product
Term
equilibrium
Definition
the condition that exists when quantity supplied and quantity demanded are equal. at equilibrium, there is no tendency for price to change.
Term
excess demand or shortage
Definition
the condition that exists when quantity supplied at the current price
Term
excess supply or surplus
Definition
the condition that exists when quantity supplied exceeds quantity demanded at the current price.
Term
business cycle
Definition
the cycle of short-term ups and downs the economy
Term
aggregate output
Definition
the total quantity of goods and services produced in an economy in a given period.
Term
recession
Definition
a period during which aggregate output declines. conventionally, a period in which aggregate output declines for 2 consecutive quarters.
Term
depression
Definition
a prolonged and deep recession
Term
expansion or boom
Definition
the period in the business cycle from a trough up to a peak during which output and employment grow
Term
contraction or slump
Definition
the period in the business cycle from a peak down to a trough during which output and employment fall.
Term
unemployment rate
Definition
the percentage of the labor force that is unemployed.
Term
inflation
Definition
an increase in the overall price level
Term
hyperinflation
Definition
a period of very rapid increases in the overall price level
Term
deflation
Definition
a decrease in the overall price level
Term
circular flow
Definition
a diagram showing the income received and payments made by each sector of the economy.
Term
transfer payments
Definition
cash payments made by the government to people who do not supply goods, services, or labor in exchange for these payments.
Term
trasurury bonds, notes, and billd
Definition
promissiry notes issued by the federal government when it borrows money
Term
corporate bonds
Definition
promissory notes issued by firms when they borrow money
Term
shares of stock
Definition
financial instruments that give to the holder a share in the firms ownership and therefore the right to share in the firms profits
Term
dividends
Definition
the portion of a firms profits that the firm pays out each period to its shareholders
Term
fiscal policy
Definition
government policies concerning taxes and spending
Term
monetary policy
Definition
the tools used by the federal reserve to control the quantity of money, which in turn affects interest rates.
Term
great depression
Definition
the period of severe economic contraction and high unemployment that began in 1929 and continued throughout the 1930s
Term
fine-tuning
Definition
the phase used by Walter Heller to refer to the government's role in regulating inflation and unemployment
Term
stagflation
Definition
a situation of both high inflation and high unemployment
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