From textbook glossary

• Budget deficit


  Amount by which government spending is greater than government revenue
• Bulk buying


  Buying goods in large quantities, which is usually cheaper than buying in small quantities
• Capital and financial account


  Part of the balance of payments where flows of savings, investment and currencies are recorded
• Capital goods


  Those purchased by firms and used to produce other goods such as factories, machinery, tools and equipment
• Capital intensive production


  Production that relies more heavily on machinery relative to labour
• Cartel


  Where a group of firms or countries join together and agree on pricing or output levels in the market
• Closed shop


  Company or factory where all the workers must belong to a particular trade union
• Commodities


  Product that can be sold to make a profit, especially one in its basic form before it has been used or changed in an industrial process; examples of commodities are farm products and metals
• Competition


  Rivalry that exists between firms when trying to sell goods to the same group of customers
• Complementary goods


  Goods purchased together because they are consumed together
• Consumer goods


  Those purchased by households such as food, confectionery, cars, tablets and furniture
• Consumer price index (CPI)


  Measure of the general price level (excluding housing costs)
• Consumption


  Amount of goods, services, energy or natural materials used in a particular period of time
• Contractionary fiscal policy


  Fiscal measures designed to reduce demand in the economy
• Cost-push inflation


  Inflation caused by rising business costs
• Costs


  Expenses that must be met when setting up and running a business
• Current account


  Part of the balance of payments where all exports and imports are recorded
• Current account deficit


  When value of imports exceeds the value of exports
• Current account surplus


  When value of exports exceeds the value of imports
• Current balance


  Difference between total exports and total imports (visible and invisible)
• Absolute poverty


  Where people do not have enough resources to meet all of their basic human needs
• Administration activities


  Involved with managing and organising the work of a company or organisation
• Aggregate demand


  Total demand in the economy including consumption, investment, government expenditure and exports minus imports
• Aggregate supply


  Total amount of goods and services produced in a country at a given price level in a given time period
• Anti-competitive practices (or restrictive trade practices)


  Attempts by firms to prevent or restrict competition
• Appreciate

  Where the value of a currency rises due to market forces - the exchange rate increases as a result in a floating exchange rate system
• Assembly plants


  Factory where parts are put together to make a final product
• Assets


  Things or resources belonging to an individual or a business that has value or the power to earn money
• Austerity


  Official action taken by a government in order to reduce the amount of money that it spends or the amount that people spend
• Balance of payments


  Record of all transactions relating to international trade
• Balance of trade or visible balance


  Difference between visible exports and visible imports
• Barriers to entry


  Obstacles that might discourage a firm from entering a market
• Base rate


  Rate of interest set by government or regional central banks for lending to other banks, which in turn influences all other rates in the economy
• Basic economic problem


  Allocation of a nation's scarce resources between competing uses that represent infinite wants
• Bi-lateral trade agreement


  Trade deal between only two countries
• Boom


  Peak of the economic cycle where GDP is growing at its fastest; time when business activity increases rapidly, so that the demand for goods increases, prices and wages go up, and unemployment falls
• Boom and bust


  When an economy regularly becomes more active and successful and then suddenly fails
• Budget


  Government's spending and revenue plans for the next year
• Cyclical or demand deficient unemployment


  Unemployment caused by falling demand as a result of a downturn in the economic cycle
• De-industrialisation


  Decline in manufacturing