Economics Glossary

Agriculture	Farming
Bonds	A certificate of debt issued by a government or corporation guaranteeing payment of the original investment plus interest by a specified future date.
Capitalism	Economic system in which property is privately owned and goods are privately produced.It is sometimes referred to as the private enterprise system.
Commerce	Trade between states or nations.
Competition	Rivalry among individuals in order to acquire more of something that is scarce.
Consumer	A person who buys economic goods and services
Credit	The giving of goods and services in return for the promise of payment at a future time. The payment usually has interest attached.
Currency	Paper money issued by the government.
Deposit	To put money in a bank or other financial institution.
Depression	A time of economic crisis or bad times in commerce, finance, and industry, characterized by falling prices, restriction of credit, low output and investment, many bankruptcies, and a high level of unemployment (many people without jobs). A less severe crisis is usually known as a recession
Distribution	The supplying of goods and services to retailers and others so that people's needs can be met.
Dividend	Profits of a firm that are distributed or given out to its investors (stockholders).
Economics	The study of choice and decision-making in a world with limited resources.
Export	To send and/or sell goods and services outside of one's country.
Goods	Anything that anyone wants. All options or alternatives are goods.
Import	To bring in and/or buy goods and services from another country.
Income	The amount of money one earns. This can be through one's job or through investments, etc..
Industry	The manufacturing (making) and selling of a particular type of good or service - for example the auto industry.
Inflation	Increase in the overall level of prices over an extended period of time.
Interdependent	People and/or businesses depending on or helping each other.
Invest	To commit (money or capital) in order to gain a financial return - to put one's money into a business or project to make more money.
Macroeconomics	The study of the sum total of economic activity, dealing with the issues of growth, inflation0 and unemployment and with national economic policies relating to these issues.
Manufacture	To make or process (a raw material) into a finished product, especially by means of a large-scale industrial operation.
Market	A network in which buyers and sellers interact to exchange goods and services for money.
Mercentilism	Economic system of the major trading nations during the 16th, 17th, and 18th cent., based on the premise that national wealth and power were best served by increasing exports and collecting precious metals in return.
Microeconomics	The study of the individual parts of the economy, the household and the firm, how prices are determined and how prices determine the production, distribution and use of goods and services.
Minimum Wage	A wage below which employers may not legally pay employees for specific kinds of employment.
Money	The accepted common medium of exchange for goods and services in the marketplace that functions as the unit of account, a means of deferred payment and a store of value.
Monopoly	A market with only one supplier.
NASDAQ	National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System - The stock exchange that is concerned heavily with technology stocks.
Need	A specific quantity of a specific good for which an individual would pay any price. These are the goods and services a person must have.
Price	The amount of money, or other goods, that you have to give up to buy a good or service.
Product	Something produced or made by human or mechanical effort or by a natural process. In business, products are things or items to be bought and/or sold.
Profit	The excess of income over all costs, including the interest cost of the wealth invested. This means making money after one has paid all the expenses in a business.
Recession	A time of less business activity, usually lasting at least three quarters of the year or nine months.
Resource	An available supply of something that can be used. There are natural resources, human resources, etc..
Scarcity	Insufficient supply or amount of something needed, a shortage or goods or services that are needed.
Services	The performance of any duties or work for another; helpful or professional activity
Socialism	The view that the government should own and control major industries
Stock	A certificate establishing ownership of a stated number of shares in a corporation's stock. If one owns stock, one owns a part of a company.
Supply and Demand	Supply is the amount of goods available at a given price at any time. Demand is how many consumers desire the goods that are in supply.
Surplus	A term used when the quantity of a good supplied exceeds the quantity demanded at the existing price.
Tariff	A tax on imports.
Tax	A contribution for the support of a government required of persons, groups, or businesses. There are many different kinds of taxes including income, sales, state. local, federal taxes.
Trade	The business of buying and selling goods and services.
Union	Often referred to as a labor union. Groups of workers that come together to work for better wages and better working conditions for its members.
Wages	The payment for work or services to workers - the money people are paid at their jobs.
Wall Street	The controlling financial interests of the United States. Wall Street itself is located in New York City.