前言#
本文为笔者在备考 IGCSE 0455 经济学时做出来的一个关键词定义表，希望能通过开源帮到有需要的人。
该 Key Terms List 基于 Susan Grant - Cambridge IGCSE® and O Level Economics Coursebook - Cambridge University Press 编写。
如有纰漏，欢迎指出！
Key Terms.#
第一部分：基本經濟問題 (The Basic Economic Problem)#
Wants: Desires for goods and services.
Resources: Factors used to produce goods and services.
The economic problem: Unlimited wants exceeding finite resources.
Scarcity: A situation where there is not enough to satisfy everyone’s wants.
Factors of production: The economic resources of land, labour, capital and enterprise.
Land: Gifts of nature available for production.
Labour: Human effort (mental and physical) involved in producing goods and services.
Capital/capital goods: Human-made goods used in production.
Consumer goods: Goods and services purchased by households for their own satisfaction.
Enterprise: Risk bearing and key decision making in business.
Mobility of labour: The ability of labour to change where it works or in which occupation.
Mobility of capital: The ability to change where capital is used or in which occupation.
Entrepreneur: A person who bears the risks and makes the key decisions in a business.
Investment: Spending on capital goods.
Gross investment: Total spending on capital goods.
Depreciation (capital consumption): The value of capital goods that have worn out or become obsolete.
Net investment: Gross investment minus depreciation.
Negative net investment: A reduction in the number of capital goods caused by some obsolete and worn out capital goods not being replaced.
Opportunity cost: The best alternative forgone.
第二部分：資源分配 (The Allocation of Resources)#
Microeconomics: The study of the behaviour and decisions of households and firms, and the performance of individual markets.
Macroeconomics: The study of the whole economy.
Market: An arrangement which brings buyers into contact with sellers.
Economic agents: Those who undertake economic activities and make economic decisions.
Private sector: Firms owned by shareholders and individuals.
Price mechanism: The system by which the market forces of demand and supply determine prices.
Capital-intensive: The use of a high proportion of capital relative to labour.
Labour-intensive: The use of a high proportion of labour relative to capital.
Demand: The willingness and ability to buy a product.
Supply: The willingness and ability to sell a product.
Market equilibrium: A situation where demand and supply are equal at the current price.
Market disequilibrium: A situation where demand and supply are not equal at the current price.
Market demand: Total demand for a product.
Aggregation: The addition of individual components to arrive at a total amount.
Substitute: A product that can be used in place of another.
Complement: A product that is used together with another product.
Ageing population: An increase in the average age of the population.
Birth rate: The number of live births per thousand of the population in a year.
Change in supply: Changes in supply conditions causing shifts in the supply curve.
Improvements in technology: Advances in the quality of capital goods and methods of production.
Direct taxes: Taxes on the income and wealth of individuals and firms.
Indirect taxes: Taxes on goods and services.
Tax: A payment to the government.
Subsidy: A payment by a government to encourage the production or consumption of a product.
Equilibrium price: The price where demand and supply are equal.
Excess demand: When demand is greater than supply.
Price elasticity of demand (PED): A measure of the responsiveness of the quantity demanded to a change in price.
Perfectly elastic demand: When a change in price causes a complete change in the quantity demanded.
Perfectly inelastic demand: When a change in price has no effect on the quantity demanded.
Unit elasticity of demand: When a change in price causes an equal change in the quantity demanded, leaving total revenue unchanged.
Price elasticity of supply (PES): A measure of the responsiveness of the quantity supplied to a change in price.
Market failure: Market forces resulting in an inefficient allocation of resources.
Third parties: Those not directly involved in producing or consuming a product.
Social benefits: The total benefits to a society of an economic activity.
Social costs: The total costs to a society of an economic activity.
Private benefits: Benefits received by those directly consuming or producing a product.
Private costs: Costs borne by those directly consuming or producing a product.
External costs: Costs imposed on those who are not involved directly in the consumption and production activities of others.
External benefits: Benefits enjoyed by those who are not involved in the consumption and production activities of others directly.
Socially optimum output: The level of output where social cost equals social benefit and society’s welfare is maximised.
Demerit goods: Products which the government considers consumers do not fully appreciate how harmful they are and so which will be over-consumed if left to market forces.
Public good: A product which is non-rival and non-excludable and hence needs to be financed by taxation.
第三部分：微觀經濟決策者 (Microeconomic Decision Makers)#
Lottery: The drawing of tickets to decide who will get the products.
Nationalisation: Moving the ownership and control of an industry from the private sector to the government.
Public corporation: A business organisation owned by the government.
Cost benefit analysis (CBA): A method of assessing investment projects which takes into account social costs and benefits.
Multinational companies (MNCs): Companies which produce in more than one country.
Liquidity: Being able to turn an asset into cash quickly without a loss.
Central bank: A government-owned bank which provides banking services to the government and commercial banks.
Primary sector: Covers agriculture, fishing, mining and other industries which extract natural resources.
Secondary sector: Covers manufacturing and construction industries.
Tertiary sector: Covers industries which provide services.
Specialisation: The concentration on particular products or tasks.
Collective bargaining: Representatives of workers negotiating with employers’ associations.
Real income: Income adjusted for inflation.
Industrial action: When workers disrupt production to put pressure on employers to agree to their demands.
Strike: A group of workers stopping work to put pressure on an employer.
Industry: A group of firms producing the same product.
The quaternary sector: Covers service industries that are knowledge based.
Horizontal merger: The merger of firms producing the same product and at the same stage of production.
Vertical merger: The merger of firms in the same industry but at different stages of production.
Conglomerate merger: A merger between firms producing different products.
Rationalisation: Eliminating unnecessary equipment and plant to make a firm more efficient.
Internal economies of scale: Lower long run average costs resulting from a firm growing in size.
External economies of scale: Lower long run average costs resulting from an industry growing in size.
Internal diseconomies of scale: Higher long run average costs arising from a firm growing too large.
Fixed costs: Costs which do not change with output in the short run.
Average fixed cost: Total fixed cost divided by output.
Variable costs: Costs that change with output.
Average variable cost: Total variable cost divided by output.
Long run: The time period when all factors of production can be changed.
Supernormal profit: Profit above that needed to keep a firm in the market in the long run.
Monopoly: A market with a single supplier.
Barrier to entry: Anything that makes it difficult for a firm to start producing the product.
第四部分：政府與宏觀經濟 (Government and the Macroeconomy)#
Local government: A government organisation with authority over a specific area of the country.
Natural monopoly: An industry where one firm can produce at a lower average cost than two or more firms.
Strategic industries: Industries important for the economic development and safety of the country.
National champions: Industries that have the potential to be world leaders.
Free international trade: Exchange of goods and services between countries without restrictions.
Economic growth: An increase in the output of an economy or its productive potential.
Actual economic growth: An increase in the output of an economy.
Potential economic growth: An increase in an economy’s productive capacity.
Aggregate demand: Total demand for a country’s product at a given price level.
Aggregate supply: Total amount of goods and services domestic firms are willing to supply.
Price stability: The price level in the economy not changing significantly over time.
Budget: The relationship between government revenue and government spending.
Budget deficit: Government spending is higher than government revenue.
Budget surplus: Government revenue is higher than government spending.
National debt: The total amount the government has borrowed over time.
Automatic stabilisers: Forms of expenditure and taxation that reduce fluctuations without policy changes.
Inflation: The rise in the price level of goods and services over time.
Expansionary fiscal policy: Rises in spending or cuts in taxes to increase aggregate demand.
Monetary policy: Decisions on money supply, interest rates, and exchange rates to influence demand.
Expansionary monetary policy: Increases in money supply or falls in interest rates to increase demand.
Gross domestic product (GDP): The total output of a country.
Nominal GDP: GDP at current market prices (not adjusted for inflation).
Real GDP: GDP at constant prices (adjusted for inflation).
Unemployment: Being without a job while willing and able to work.
Cyclical unemployment: Unemployment caused by a lack of aggregate demand.
Structural unemployment: Unemployment caused by long-term changes in demand or production methods.
Deflation: A sustained fall in the prices of goods and services.
Consumer prices index (CPI): A measure of the weighted average of prices of a basket of goods.
第五與第六部分：發展與國際貿易 (Development and International Trade)#
Human Development Index (HDI): A measure of living standards including income, education and life expectancy.
Purchasing power parity: An exchange rate based on the ratio of prices for a basket of products in different countries.
Infant mortality rate: The number of deaths per 1000 live births in a year.
Dependency ratio: The proportion of the population supported by the labour force.
Optimum population: The size of population which maximises output per head.
Globalisation: The process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected.
Quota: A limit placed on imports or exports.
Embargo: A ban on imports or exports.
Dumping: Selling products in a foreign market at a price below the cost of production.
Floating exchange rate: An exchange rate determined by market forces.
Appreciation: A rise in the value of a floating exchange rate.
Depreciation: A fall in the value of a floating exchange rate.
Primary income: Income earned by people working in different countries and investment income.
Secondary income: Transfers between residents and non-residents not in return for anything else.
Current account balance: A record of income received and expenditure made by a country in its dealings abroad
