Economic Midterm Part 2 Flashcards
The wage rate that produces neither an excess supply of workers nor an excess demand for workers in the labor market
Equilibrium Wage
Value of output produced
Productivity
Labor that requires no specialized skills, education, or training
Unskilled Labor
Labor that requires minimal specialized skills and education
Semi-Skilled Labor
Labor that requires specialized skills and training
Skilled Labor
Labor that requires advanced skills and education
Professional Labor
An unofficial, invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from advancing in businesses dominated by white men
Glass Ceiling
An organization of workers that tries to improve working conditions, wages, and benefits for its members
Labor Union
The practice of negotiating labor contracts that keep unnecessary workers on a company’s payroll
Featherbedding
An organized work stoppage intended to force an employer to address union demands
Strike
The process in which union and company representatives meet to negotiate a new labor contract
Collective Bargaining
A settlement technique in which a neutral mediator meets with each side to try to find a solution that both sides will accept
Mediation
A settlement technique in which a third party reviews the case and imposes a decision that is legally binding for both sides
Arbitration
Anything that serves as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value
Money
The direct exchange of one set of goods or services for another
Barter
Something that keeps its value if it is stored rather than used
Store of Value
Coins and paper bills used as money
Currency
Objects that have value because the holder can exchange them for something else of value
Representative Money
Money that has value because the government has ordered that it is an acceptable means to pay debts
Fiat Money
An institution for receiving, keeping, and lending money
Bank
The nation’s central banking
Federal Reserve System
The government agency that insures customer deposits if a bank fails
Fed Deposit Insurance Corp
The ability to be used as, or directly converted to, cash
Liquidity
Market in which money is lent for periods less than a year
Money Market
A specific type of loan that is used to buy real estate
Mortgage
A card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder’s promise to pay for these goods and services
Credit Card
The price paid for the use of borrowed money, or money earned by deposited funds
Interest
The amount of money borrowed
Principle
Person or institution to whom money is owed
Creditor
Goods that last for a relatively long time, such as refrigerators, cars, and DVD players
Durable Good
Goods that last a short period of time, such as food, light bulbs, and sneakers
Nondurable Good
The loss of the value of capital equipment that results from normal wear and tear
Depreciation
The average of all prices in the economy
Price Level
A period of economic growth as measured by a rise in the real GDP
Expansion
Steady, long-term increase in real GDP
Economic Growth
The height of an economic expansion, when real GDP stops rising
Peak
Period of economic decline marked by falling real GDP
Contraction
The lower point in an economic contraction, when real gross domestic product stops falling
Trough
A prolonged economic contraction
Recession
a recession that is especially long and severe
Depression
Key economic variables that economists use to predict a new phase of the business cycle
Leading Indicators
Unemployment that occurs when people take time to find a job
Frictional Unemployment
Unemployment that occurs as a result of harvest schedules or vacations, or when industries slow or shut down for a season
Seasonal Unemployment
Unemployment that occurs when workers’ skills do not match the jobs that are available
Structural Unemployment
Unemployment that rises during economic downturns and falls when the economy improves
Cyclical Unemployment
The percentage of the nation’s labor force that is unemployed
Unemployment rate
Working at a job for which one is overqualified, or working part-time when full-time work is desired
Underemployed
A general increase in prices
Inflation
A price index determined by measuring the price of a standard group of goods meant to represent the typical “market basket”
Consumer Price Index
The percentage rate of change in price level over time
Inflation Rate
The process by which rising wages cause higher prices and higher prices cause higher wages
Wage-Price Spiral
A sustained drop in the price level
Deflation
The percentage of people who live in households with income below the official poverty line
Poverty Rate
Area where companies can locate free of certain local, state, and federal taxes and restrictions
Enterprise Zone
Federal funds given to states in lump sums
Block Grand
A program requiring work in exchange for temporary assistance
Workfare
A nation’s gross domestic product divided by its total population
Per Capita GDP
The extensive organization of an economy for the purpose of manufacturing
Industrialization
Level of farming in which a person raises only enough food to feed his or her family
Subsistence Agriculture
The number of deaths that occur in the first year of life per 1,000 live births
Infant Mortality Rate
The services and facilities necessary for an economy to function
Infrastructure
Less developed country that has shown significant improvement in the measures of development
Newly Industrialized Country
Suitable for producing crops
Arable
Inadequate nutrition
Malnutrition
Small donations given to third world entrepreneurs
Micro Loans (exception)
