Glossary Terms:

Any activity or organization that produces or exchanges goods or services for a profit.

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.

A written order to a financial institution directing the financial institution to pay a stated amount of money, as instructed, from the customer's account.

People who use goods and services to satisfy their personal needs and not for resale or in the production of other goods and services.

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

One who draws upon his or her skills and initiative to launch a new business venture with the aim of making a profit. Often a risk-taker, inclined to see opportunity when others do not.

A characteristic of people who assume the risk of organizing productive resources to produce goods and services; a resource.

Payments for goods and services.

Something a person or organization plans to achieve in the future; an aim or desired result.

Tangible objects that satisfy economic wants.

Payments earned by households for selling or renting their productive resources. May include salaries, wages, interest and dividends.

A piece of work usually done on order at an agreed-upon rate. Also a paid position of regular employment.

Anything that is generally accepted as final payment for goods and services; serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value and a standard of value. Characteristics of money are portability, stability in value, uniformity, durability and acceptance.

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.

Natural resources, human resources, capital resources and entrepreneurship used to make goods and services.

Income received for entrepreneurial skills and risk taking, calculated by subtracting all of a firm's explicit and implicit costs from its total revenues.

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

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.

Desires that can be satisfied by consuming or using a good or service. Economists do not differentiate between wants and needs.

Effort applied to achieve a purpose or result, often for pay; skills and knowledge put to use to get something done; employment at a job or in a position; occupation, profession, business, trade, craft, etc.