Economic Systems and Business Flashcards
Barriers to Entry
Factors, such as technological or legal conditions, that prevent new firms from competing
equally with an existing firm
Business
An organization that strives for profit by providing goods and services desired by its customers
Business Cycles
Upward and downward changes in the level of economic activity
Capital
Inputs, such as tools, machinery, equipment, and buildings, used to produce goods and services and get them to the customer
Capitalism
An economic system based on competition in the marketplace and private ownership of the factors of production (resources); also known as the private enterprise system
Circular Flow
Movement of inputs and outputs among households, businesses, and governments; a way of showing how the sectors of the economy interact
Communism
An economic system characterized by government ownership of virtually all resources, government control of all markets, and economic decision-making by central government planning
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
An index of prices of a “market basket” of goods and services purchased by typical urban consumers
Contractionary Policy
The use of monetary policy by the Fed to tighten the money supply by selling government securities or raising interest rates
Cost-Push Inflation
Inflation that occurs when increases in production costs push up the prices of final goods and services
Costs
Expenses incurred from creating and selling goods and services
Crowding Out
The situation that occurs when government spending replaces spending by the private sector
Cyclical Unemployment
Unemployment that occurs when a downturn in the business cycle reduces the demand for labor throughout the economy
Demand
The quantity of a good or service that people are willing to buy at various prices
Demand Curve
A graph showing the quantity of a good or service that people are willing to buy at various prices
Demand-Pull Inflation
Inflation that occurs when demand for goods and services is greater than the supply
Demography
The study of people’s vital statistics, such as their age, gender, race and ethnicity, and location
Economic Growth
An increase in a nation’s output of goods and services
Economic System
The combination of policies, laws, and choices made by a nation’s government to establish the systems that determine what goods and services are produced and how they are allocated
Economics
The study of how a society uses scarce resources to produce and distribute goods and services
Entrepreneurs
People who combine the inputs of natural resources, labor, and capital to produce goods or services with the intention of making a profit or accomplishing a not-for-profit goal
Equilibrium
The point at which the quantity demanded equals quantity supplied
Expansionary Policy
The use of monetary policy by the Fed to increase, or loosen, the growth of the money supply
Factors of Production
The resources used to create goods and services
Federal Budget Deficit
The condition that occurs when the federal government spends more for programs than it collects in taxes
Federal Reserve System (the Fed)
The central banking system of the United States