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AP Economics Vocab Flashcards

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828886376economicsSocial science concerned with how individuals, institutions, and society make optimal (best) choices under the condition of scarcity
828886377scarcitywants and needs > resources
828886378utilitythe pleasure, happiness or satisfaction obtained from consuming a good or service
828886379marginal benefitthe additional benefit of consuming one extra of a good or sevice; marginal means additional
828886380marginal costthe additional cost of producing an extra unit of a good or service
828886381microeconomicspart of economics concerned with individual units; small-scale view
828886382macroeconomicsexamines the economy as awhole or its basic subdivisions or aggregates such as the government (G), households (counsumers-C), business sectors (Ib) or international trade (Ex-Im or Nx); broader view
828886383positive economicsfocuses on facts, data and cause and effect relationships; "what is"
828886384normative economicsvalue judgments about the economy SHOULD be like; "what ought to be"
828886385trade-offalt uses for resources or time
828886386opportunity costthe value of what is lost when we make a choice about how to use a resource or time; not just money but opportunities lost
828886387factors of productionresources used to produce goods and services; land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship
828886388landnatural resources used to produce goods and services
828886389laborhuman capital; human skills and abilities
828886390capitalresources (not money) that can be used to produce goods and services i.e. technology
828886391entrepreneurshipcombine land, labor and capital in new ways to produce goods or services
828886392consumerpeople who buy or use goods/services
828886393producerspeople who produce goods/services
828886394consumptionthe act done by the consumer
828886395investmentbusiness buying capital, or inventories or people buying newly constructed houses; not money
828886396production possibilities curve/ frontier (PPC or PPF)model of an economy which shows combinations of ONLY 2 goods that can be produced using scarce resources
828886397constant opportunity costwhen factors of production are perfectly substitutable for producting two goods
828886398increasing opportunity costwhen factors of production aren't perfectly substitutable for producting two goods
828886399allocative efficiencythe condition that is met when the marginal benefit of consuming something equals the marginal cost of producing it
828886400productive efficiencyproducing at the lowest avg total cost; the condition that is met when producing on the PPC
828886401economic growthan outward shift of the PPF that results from an increase in resource supplies or improvement in technology; permanent
828886402technologybody of knowledge and techniques that can be used to combine economic resources to produce goods and services
839494139command economyan economy that relies on government to determine who gets what
839494140markethappens whenever producers and consumers come together to exchange goods and services
839494141market economyan economy that relies on people motivated by their own self-interest to use markets to meet their needs and wants
839494142mixed economyan economy that sometimes uses markets and sometimes government to determine how people's needs and wants are met
839494143circular flow modelillustrates the flow of goods and services, resources and money in a market economy; note the goods and services and resources flow one directiona nd the money flows the opposite direction
839494144resource/factor marketmarket where resources are bought and sold
839494145product marketmarket where goods and services produced by businesses are bought and sold
839494146householdspeople that provide the economy with factors of production in the resource market and purchase goods and services in the product market; consumers
839494147businesses/firmspurchase resources from the resource market to produce goods and services for the product market

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