Basic Economic Vocabulary

1. Physical items that can be purchased
3. The study of the choices people make to satisfy their needs and wants
7. A term meaning "to distribute."
9. One of the four factors of production; a person who starts a business or comes up with the idea for a new product
11. Entities that buy things to satisfy their needs and wants
13. The direct exchange of goods and services
14. Something that encourages people to behave in a particular way
15. A type of economy where the government controls nearly all the factors of production
17. Any item that is readily accepted by people in exchange for goods and services
18. An entity that makes and sells things that satisfy people's needs and wants
19. The difference between the money earned by selling a product and the cost of its production
21. The "invisible hand" argued to drive the economy in a market economy
22. The author of the book "Wealth of Nations"
23. The value of the second-best option given up when making an economic decision is its ___ cost.

2. Actions or activities performed for a fee
4. A type of exchange made against a person's will (e.g. taxes)
5. Mixed economic system based on public ownership of the means of production
6. The cost of borrowing money
8. Anything that people can use to make what they need or want
10. The basic problem of economics: having limited resources to meet unlimited wants
12. A term for manufactured materials used to produce a product (i.e. buildings, tools, vehicles, etc.)
15. A form of exchange that allows consumers to use a product now, with the promise of repayment over a period of time
16. The economic rivalry between two businesses selling the same or similar products
17. The interaction of buyers and sellers for the free exchange of goods and services
20. Author of "The Communist Manifesto" and father of Communism