Glossary Terms:

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

An amount that must be paid or spent to buy or obtain something. The effort, loss or sacrifice necessary to achieve or obtain something.

A conclusion reached after considering alternatives and their results.

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

Tangible objects that satisfy economic wants.

Any reward or benefit, such as money, advantage or good feeling, that motivates people to do something.

A practice or arrangement whereby a company provides a guarantee of compensation for specified forms of loss, damage, injury or death. People obtain such guarantees by buying insurance policies, for which they pay premiums. The process allows for the spreading out of risk over a pool of insurance policyholders, with the expectation that only a few policholders will actually experience losses for which claims must be made. Types of insurance include automobile, health, renter's, homeowner's, disability and life.

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.

People and firms that use resources to make goods and services.

A good or service that can be used to satisfy a want.

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

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.

The chance of losing money.

The condition that exists because human wants exceed the capacity of available resources to satisfy those wants; also a situation in which a resource has more than one valuable use. The problem of scarcity faces all individuals and organizations, including firms and government agencies.

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

Use money now to buy goods and services.

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.

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.