Economic and Global Concepts - Year 9 HaSS

Vocabulary flashcards covering key economic and global concepts from the notes.

Economics

The study of how individuals, businesses, and governments allocate scarce resources to satisfy needs and wants.

Scarcity

Having unlimited needs and wants but limited resources available.

Capital

Man-made resources used to produce goods and services (e.g., machinery, buildings, equipment).

Land

Natural resources used in production (e.g., minerals, water, land).

Labour

Human effort used to produce goods and services.

Enterprise

Entrepreneurship; the ability to organize resources, take risks, and start/run a business.

Opportunity cost

The value of the next best alternative forgone when choosing one option over another.

Specialisation

Focusing on producing a particular good or service to gain efficiencies and economies of scale.

Trade

Exchange of goods and services between buyers and sellers.

Interdependence

The reliance of households, businesses, government and others on each other to produce and consume.

Allocation

The process of distributing scarce resources among producers and consumers.

Markets

Arrangements where buyers and sellers exchange goods and services.

GDP

Gross Domestic Product — the total value of goods and services produced within a country in a year.

Inflation

A general increase in the price level of goods and services.

Unemployment rate

The percentage of people who are unemployed out of all people who are able to work.

Living standards

The material and non-material well-being of people.

Circular Flow of Income

A model showing how money moves between households, firms, the government, the financial sector, and the international sector.

Leakage

Money that leaves the circular flow (savings, taxation, and imports).

Injection

Money entering the circular flow (investment, government spending, and exports).

Equilibrium (circular flow)

The state when total leakages equal total injections.

Household sector

Households own resources and provide them to firms in exchange for income; they consume and may save or pay taxes.

Business sector

Firms that produce goods and services using resources from households; they may invest and earn revenue.

Financial sector

Banks and other institutions that facilitate the flow of funds between savers and borrowers.

Savings

Income not spent by households; deposited in banks; a leakage from the circular flow.

Investment

Spending by firms on capital goods; an injection into the economy.

Fractional reserve banking

Banking practice of keeping only a fraction of deposits in reserve and lending the rest, creating money.

Taxation

Money collected by the government from households and firms; a leakage reducing spending.

Government spending

Public sector expenditure that injects income and demand into the economy.

Imports

Goods/services bought from overseas; a leakage from the domestic economy.

Exports

Goods/services produced domestically and sold overseas; an injection into the domestic economy.

Balance of Trade

The relationship between the value of a country’s imports and exports.

Trade surplus

Exports exceed imports.

Trade deficit

Imports exceed exports.

Tariff

A tax imposed on imports.

Quota

A government-imposed limit on the quantity of imports.

Embargo

A government prohibition on imports from a particular country.

Protectionism

Policy of restricting trade to protect domestic industries.

Trade agreements

Agreements between countries to reduce barriers to trade, often forming a trading bloc.

Trading bloc

A group of countries that have reduced barriers to trade among themselves.

Comparative advantage

Producing a good at a lower opportunity cost than other countries.

Absolute advantage

Producing a good with fewer resources than another country.

Globalisation

The increasing interconnectedness of the world through trade, technology, travel, and cultural exchange.

Technology (driver of globalisation)

Innovations that enable faster production, communication, and distribution across borders.

Transport (driver of globalisation)

Faster and cheaper movement of goods and people around the world.

Global supply chains

Networks spanning multiple countries that move materials and products from raw materials to final goods.

Cultural exchange

Sharing of ideas, values, and customs across cultures as trade and travel expand.

Transnational corporation (TNC)

A large company operating in multiple countries with production and management spread globally.

Primary, secondary, tertiary stages

Primary: extracting or converting raw materials; Secondary: manufacturing; Tertiary: providing services.