23 of the Economics glossary’s terms, each with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
The increase in total output and consumption that countries obtain when they specialise according to comparative advantage and trade with each other.
The study of strategic decision-making by interdependent players, where the outcome for each player depends on its own choices and on the choices of the others.
A price index measuring the average price of all goods and services in GDP relative to a base year (= 100), used to convert nominal values into real values.
Unequal treatment of, or opportunities for, people because of their gender, for example in education, health care, employment, pay, property, finance and political power, usually to the disadvantage of women and girls.
A composite indicator published by the UNDP that measures inequality between women and men in reproductive health, empowerment and labour market participation, from 0 (equality) to 1.
The difference between the average (usually median) earnings of men and women, expressed as a percentage of men’s earnings.
A rare type of inferior good, usually a staple food for very poor households, for which a rise in price leads to a rise in quantity demanded because the income effect outweighs the substitution effect.
A measure of inequality equal to the area between the line of perfect equality and the Lorenz curve divided by the whole area under that line; it ranges from 0 (perfect equality) to 1.
The sequence of stages that turns inputs into a final product, from design to assembly and sale, when the stages are carried out in several different countries.
The growing integration and interdependence of the world's economies through rising flows of goods, services, capital, labour, technology and ideas across borders.
The exercise of political authority in a way that is accountable, transparent, effective and responsive to citizens, with the rule of law, protected rights and low corruption.
A financial asset issued by a government to borrow money, which pays the holder interest and repays the amount borrowed on a set date.
The government’s plan of revenue and spending for a year; the budget balance is government revenue minus government spending.
The total amount owed by a government as a result of past borrowing, equal to accumulated past budget deficits minus surpluses; a stock, often expressed as a percentage of GDP.
The situation where a government intervention leads to a less efficient allocation of resources, or a worse outcome, than the market would have produced without it.
The income a government receives, mainly from direct and indirect taxes, but also from fees, sales of goods and services, and the profits of state-owned enterprises.
Spending by the government on goods and services, such as public-sector wages, health care, education and infrastructure; it excludes transfer payments such as pensions and unemployment benefits.
The severe worldwide economic slump of the 1930s, in which output fell sharply and unemployment reached about a quarter of the US labour force in 1933.
GDP adjusted for environmental costs by subtracting the estimated value of resource depletion and environmental damage caused by economic activity.
The total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country’s borders over a period of time, usually a year, whoever owns the factors of production.
The total income earned by a country’s residents over a period of time, wherever it is earned: GDP plus income earned abroad by residents minus income paid to non-residents.
The business objective of increasing a firm’s size, measured by sales, output, assets or employees, through internal expansion or by merging with or taking over other firms.
An increase in an economy's capacity to produce, from more or better factors of production or improved technology, shown as an outward shift of the PPC.