Glossary Terms:

Beliefs or statements presupposed to be true.

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.

Decision made or course of action taken when faced with a set of alternatives.

Spending by households on goods and services. The process of buying and using 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.

An increase in real output as measured by real GDP or per capita real GDP.

The study of how people, firms and societies choose to allocate scarce resources with alternative uses.

Tangible objects that satisfy economic wants.

The study of economics concerned with individual units of the economy such as households, firms and markets; with how prices and outputs are determined in those markets; and with how the price mechanism allocates resources and distributes income.

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 second-best alternative (or the value of that alternative) that must be given up when scarce resources are used for one purpose instead of another.

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.

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.

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.