Glossary Terms:

In the context of credit transactions, capacity is one of the Three Cs of Credit. It is an indicator of how creditworthy a prospective borrower is likely to be, as determined by the borrower's current and future earnings relative to current debt. High earnings and low debt, for example, indicate a strong capacity to make payments on the loan in question.

Resources and goods made and used to produce other goods and services. Examples include buildings, machinery, tools and equipment. In the context of credit transactions, capital is one of the Three Cs of Credit. It is an indicator of how creditworthy a prospective borrower is likely to be as determined by the borrower's current financial assets and net worth.

An economy in which most economic issues of production and distribution are resolved through central planning and control.

The quantity of a good or service that buyers are willing and able to buy at all possible prices during a period of time.

The institutional framework of formal and informal rules that a society uses to determine what to produce, how to produce and how to distribute goods and services.

The percentage of the total population aged 16 or over that is employed.

Although there is no one precise definition, the term usually refers to the increased flow of trade, people, investment, technology, culture and ideas among countries.

Tangible objects that satisfy economic wants.

A situation in which decisions made by one person affect decisions made by other people, or events in one part of the world or sector of the economy affect other parts of the world or other sectors of the economy.

The purchase of capital goods (including machinery, technology or new buildings) that are used to produce goods and services. In personal finance, the amount of money invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other investment instruments.

The quantity and quality of human effort available to produce goods and services.

"Gifts of nature" that can be used to produce goods and services; for example, oceans, air, mineral deposits, virgin forests and actual fields of land. When investments are made to improve fields of land or other natural resources, those resources become, in part, capital resources. Also known as natural resources.

An economy that relies on a system of interdependent market prices to allocate goods, services, and productive resources and to coordinate the diverse plans of consumers and producers, all of them pursuing their own self-interest.

Places, institutions or technological arrangements where or by means of which goods or services are exchanged. Also, the set of all sale and purchase transactions that affect the price of some good or service.

"Gifts of nature" that can be used to produce goods and services; for example, oceans, air, mineral deposits, virgin forests and actual fields of land. When investments are made to improve fields of land or other natural resources, those resources become, in part, capital resources. Also known as land.

The state of being poor, variously defined. Sometimes defined relatively--by reference, for example, to the average household income in a nation or region. Sometimes defined absolutely--by reference, for example, to the income needed to provide for adequate food, housing and clothing in a nation or region.

The amount of money that people pay when they buy a good or service; the amount they receive when they sell a good or service.

A process of manufacturing, growing, designing, or otherwise using productive resources to create goods or services used to to satisfy a want.

The basic kinds of resources used to produce goods and services: land or natural resources, human resources (including labor and entrepreneurship), and capital.

Government activity in establishing a framework or rules of the game in economic life. In the United States, this activity involves preserving and fostering competition, regulating natural monopolies, providing information and services to enable the market to work better, regulating externalities, providing certain public goods, offering some economic security and income redistribution to individuals, assuring a sound monetary system and promoting overall economic stability and growth.

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

The amount of a good or service that producers are willing and able to offer for sale at each possible price during a given period of time.

An international organization that makes loans and provides technical expertise to developing nations.