Microeconomics definitions Flashcards
Economics
the study of how society organises scarce productive resources in order to satisfy people’s unlimited wants.
Economic agents
any person/group of people who has an influence on the economy by producing, buying, or selling
Ceteris paribus
an assumption made in economics that all other things remain equal when analysing the relationship between two variables
Positive economic statements
objective statements that can be proved or disproved= what was or will be and these statements can be verified as being true or false by reference to the data or scientific approach=value-free statements.
Normative economic statements
Value judgements are subjective. They relate to what should or ought to
Economic problem
all economies face the problem of scarce resources and infinite wants.
Scarcity
gap or limitation between the resources available and the human wants or needs for them
Needs
goods that are necessary for survival, such as water, food, clothing, shelter. Needs are limited.
Wants
goods that are not essential for survival but make our lives more comfortable, such as larger car, new TV. Wants are infinite.
Factors of production
resources that are used to make goods and services. They include land, labour, capital and enterprise
Land
all natural resources including non-renewables such as oil and copper and renewable resources such as water and forests
Labour
people within working age within an economy, however not all will be economically active e.g. the early retired. The productivity, i.e. the efficiency, of labour is heavily influenced by education and training
Capital
all man-made goods used repeatedly to produce consumer goods e.g. machinery, tools and equipment.
Entrepreneur
the person who manages all the other factors of production and often risk their own money to set up a new venture.
Renewable resources
those that can be replenished, so the stock level of the resources can be maintained over a period of time
Non-renewable resources
those that cannot be renewed. For example, things produced from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas
Opportunity cost
the next best alternative foregone for the option that is chosen.
Economic goods
goods which are scarce are known as economic goods e.g. oil, gold. All such goods carry a price that reflects their scarcity.
Free goods
have a zero price, examples include air and rain water, consuming these goods involves no opportunity cost
Production possibility frontier
represent the maximum output of any combination of two types of products that an economy can produce with its current resources and technology.
Trade-off
sacrifice of the production of one good when making a decision to make more of another good.
Capital goods
used to produce other goods or services e.g. factory, machinery, robotics and tools. It is wanted not for its own sake but for the consumer goods and services it can provide
Consumer good
directly provide utility to consumers. E.g. smartphones, clothes, fast food and cars. A consumer good is wanted for the satisfaction it gives.
Specialisation
where an individual, firm, region or country concentrates on the production of a limited range of goods and services.