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56 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Need
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Something people need that is necessary for survival
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Want
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An item we desire but that is not essential for survival
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Economics
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The study of how people seek to satisfy their needs and wants by making choices
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Productivity
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The degree to which resources are being used efficiently
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Wage
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The payment for the service of one unit of labor, usually per hour
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Salary
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A fixed income which is usually paid on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis
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Producer
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A person who makes goods and services avaliable to consumers
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Consumer
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A person who buys or uses goods and services
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Incentive
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A reward offered to try to persuade people to make certain economic actions
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Underutilization
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Using fewer resources than an economy is capable of using
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Non-Renewable Resources
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A resource that CANNOT be replaced once it is used (ex. fossil fuels, coal, oil, etc.)
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Renewable Resources
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A resource that IS capable of being naturally restored or replenished
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Service
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Actions one person preforms for another
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Good
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A tanglible object that can be bought and used to meet the needs and wants of consumers
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Scarcity
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Limited resources to meet unlimited wants. Exists because our needs and wants are always greater than our resource supply.
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Oppurtunity Cost
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The most disirable alternative given up as a result of a decision
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Trade-Off
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An alternative we sacrifice when we make a decision
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Land
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All natural resources used to produce goods and services
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Capital
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Any human made resource that is used to produce other goods and services. Either human or physical capital.
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Human Capital
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The knowledge and skills a worker gains through education and experience
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Physical Capital
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Human made objects that create other goods and services
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Thinking at the Margin
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Deciding whether to use one additional unit of some resource
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Entrepreneur
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Ambitious leaders who decide how to combine land, labor, and capital resources to create new goods and services
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Shortage
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NOT the same as scarcity. This occurs when producers will not or cannot offer goods and services at the current prices (can be temporary or long term)
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Labor
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Human effort directed toward producing goods and services (mental and physical efforts)
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Production Possibilities Curve
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A graph that shows alternative ways to use an economy's resources
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Production Possibilities Frontier
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A line on the production possibilities curve that shows maximum possible output for an economy
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Fixed Cost
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A cost that remains the same no matter how many goods are produced
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Variable Costs
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The expenses that change with the number of goods produced
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Total Cost
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Fixed costs plus variable costs
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Marginal Costs
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The extra cost of producing one more unit of a good
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Innovation
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Improving a good or service
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Capital Goods
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Goods or raw materials used to make finished products
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Profit
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The amount of money left over after all the costs of production have been paid
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Capitalism
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An economic system in which private citizens own and use the factors of production
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Automation
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Machines control production
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Division of Labor
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The breaking down of a job into seperate, smaller tasks, which are performed by different workers
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Consumer Goods
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Goods brought into the market and not used in the production of other goods
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Free Market Economy
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Competition is allowed to flourish with a minimum goverment interference
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Inventions
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New goods and services
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Adam Smith
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Father of economics and author of "The Wealth of Nations"
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Specialization
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Takes place when people, businesses, regions, and even countries concentrate on goods and services that they can produce better than anyone else
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Law of Deminishing Marginal Returns
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A level of production in which the marginal product of labor decreases as the number of workers increases
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Robotics
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Machines perform physical tasks
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Blue-Collar Worker
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Working class employee who performs manual or unskilled labor
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Invisible Hand
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Guides the nation's resources to their most productive use and helps the market to self-regulate itself
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Assembly Line
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A manufacturing process in which interchangeable parts are added to a product to create an end product
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Market
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Places where the prices of goods and services are determined as exchange takes place
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White-Collar Worker
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Perform tasks that require less physical labor/skilled workers
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Laissez-Faire Economics
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"to let alone", the government should not interfere in the market place
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Consumer Sovereignty
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The idea that the consumer is the king or ruler of an economy and determines what products will be produced
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Competition
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The struggle between buyers and sellers to get the best products at the lowest prices, keeps cost of production low and quality high
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Households
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In a free market economy, these own the factors of production and are the consumers of goods and services
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Firms
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An orgranization that uses resources to produce a product which it sells, changes factors of production into products
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Factor Market
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Firms purchase the factors of productions in this type of market
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Product Market
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Goods and services produced by firms are purchased by households in this type of market
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