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Basic Economic Concepts Vocabulary
There are some basic terms that you need to know when you study economics.
27
Economics
12th Grade
08/15/2011

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Term
Needs
Definition
This is a basic requirement for survival. People have basic needs like food, clothing and shelter.
Term
Wants
Definition
this is a means of expressing a need. For example, food is a basic need. However, you might "want" pizza, a salad, etc. You choose how to meet your need for food.
Term
Free products
Definition
goods which are so plentiful that they have no price. 
Term
Economic products
Definition
goods and services which are useful, relatively scarce and transferable to others. 
Term
Consumer good
Definition
a good that is intended for final use by an individual. If you go to the store and buy a pair of pants to wear.
Term
Capital good
Definition
a good used to make another product. (ex. Factory, Oven, ect)
Term
Durable goods
Definition
goods that last three years or more.
Term
Nondurable good
Definition
an item that lasts less than three years. 
Term
Services
Definition
work that is performed for someone.
Term
Consumers
Definition
people who use goods and services to satisfy wants and needs.
Term
Consumption
Definition
 the process of purchasing and using up goods and services in order to satisfy wants and needs. When you buy clothes and wear them.
Term
Conspicuous consumption
Definition
the use of a good or service to impress others.
Term
Value
Definition
refers to something that has a worth that can be expressed in terms of dollars and cents.
Term
Paradox of value
Definition
what makes something valuable is how available it is. Diamonds are valuable – they are not necessary to live but they are scarce so people who want them are willing to pay a much higher price.
Term
Utility
Definition
the capacity to be useful to someone. If something isn't useful to you, then you will not purchase it.
Term
Wealth
Definition
 the sum of those economic products that are tangible, scarce, useful, and transferable from one person to another.
Term
Production
Definition
the process of creating goods and services.
Term
Productivity
Definition
the efficient use of productive resources. Productivity goes up when you can produce more output with the same inputs. For example, if you usually produce 1 written paper in an hour and you get so good that you can produce 2 written papers in an hour, then you have become more productive. You have produced more in the same amount of time.
Term
Specialization
Definition
you do whatever you can do best – you specialize in that task. If I am a really fast sewer then I would specialize in sewing rather than trying to cook.
Term
Division of labor
Definition
 workers perform fewer tasks more frequently. I would sew all of the time instead of trying to sew and cook. Someone else would then do the cooking.
Term
Human capital
Definition
 the skills and abilities of people that go into the production of goods and services.
Term
Economic interdependence
Definition
 actions in one part of the country or the world have an economic impact on what happens elsewhere. For example, bad weather in one part of the world can affect sugar prices in the US. This then makes the price of US goods that contain sugar to go up.
Term
Market
Definition
a location that allows buyers and sellers to exchange economic profits.
Term
Factor markets
Definition
where the factors of production are bought and sold. If you go and get hired for a job, you have just "sold" your labor in the factor market.
Term
Product markets
Definition
markets where final goods and services are sold. If you go to the store and buy clothes.
Term
Standard of living
Definition
the quality of life based on the possession of necessities and luxuries that make life easier. 
Term
Free enterprise economy
Definition
an economy in which consumers and privately owned businesses, rather than the government, jointly make the majority of the WHAT, HOW and WHO decisions.
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