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2.4: Key Terms

  • Page ID
    181293
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    Example and Directions
    Words (or words that have the same definition)The definition is case sensitive(Optional) Image to display with the definition [Not displayed in Glossary, only in pop-up on pages](Optional) Caption for Image(Optional) External or Internal Link(Optional) Source for Definition
    (Eg. "Genetic, Hereditary, DNA ...")(Eg. "Relating to genes or heredity")The infamous double helix https://bio.libretexts.org/CC-BY-SA; Delmar Larsen
    Glossary Entries
    Word(s)DefinitionImageCaptionLinkSource
    allocative efficiencywhen the mix of goods produced represents the mix that society most desires    
    budget constraintall possible consumption combinations of goods that someone can afford, given the prices of goods, when all income is spent; the boundary of the opportunity set    
    comparative advantagewhen a country can produce a good at a lower cost in terms of other goods; or, when a country has a lower opportunity cost of production    
    invisible handAdam Smith's concept that individuals' self-interested behavior can lead to positive social outcomes    
    law of diminishing marginal utilityas we consume more of a good or service, the utility we get from additional units of the good or service tends to become smaller than what we received from earlier units    
    law of diminishing returnsas we add additional increments of resources to producing a good or service, the marginal benefit from those additional increments will decline    
    marginal analysisexamination of decisions on the margin, meaning a little more or a little less from the status quo    
    normative statementstatement which describes how the world should be    
    opportunity costmeasures cost by what we give up/forfeit in exchange; opportunity cost measures the value of the forgone alternative    
    opportunity setall possible combinations of consumption that someone can afford given the prices of goods and the individual’s income    
    positive statementstatement which describes the world as it is    
    production possibilities frontier (PPF)a diagram that shows the productively efficient combinations of two products that an economy can produce given the resources it has available.    
    productive efficiencywhen it is impossible to produce more of one good (or service) without decreasing the quantity produced of another good (or service)    
    sunk costscosts that we make in the past that we cannot recover    
    utilitysatisfaction, usefulness, or value one obtains from consuming goods and services    

    This page titled 2.4: Key Terms is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by OpenStax via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.