Economic Vocabulary

Objects that can satisfy people's needs and wants.

• Needs

• Scarcity

• Goods

• Wants

Activities performed by people, firms, or government agencies to satisfy economic needs and wants.

• Goods

• Supply

• Services

• Demand

Human activities concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

• Resources

• Scarcity

• Goods

• Economy

Money that is used to make more money; money that is invested in a business.

• Economy

• Demand

• Capital

• Goods

A theory (assumption) explaining the interaction between the supply of a resource and the demand for that resource.

• Needs and Wants

• Resources

• Goods and Services

• Supply and Demand

All natural and man-made materials (things) used in the production of goods and services.

• Needs

• Supply

• Resources

• Wants

The system by which people produce, distribute, and use goods and services that meet people’s wants and needs

• Government

• Economy

• Political Science

• Scarcity

The amount of a resource or product sellers are willing and able to sell at a given point in time.

• Supply

• Demand

• Real Value

• Quantity

The condition in which wants for goods and services are greater than the limited resources available to satisfy those wants.

• Supply

• Demand

• Surplus

• Scarcity

The unequal distribution of items of value (such as land, businesses, stocks, cash, etc.) among people in a country

• Income Inequality

• Wealth Inequality

• Opportunity Inequality

• Supply Inequality