Economics - -The study of how individuals and societies allocate scarce resources to
satisfy their needs and wants.
Microeconomics - -The branch of economics that studies individual agents, such as
households and firms, and their interactions in markets.
Macroeconomics - -The branch of economics that studies the economy as a whole,
focusing on aggregate measures such as national income, unemployment, and inflation.
Rational Behavior - -The assumption that individuals make decisions based on the
maximization of their utility or profit, given their constraints.
Scarcity - -The fundamental economic problem of having limited resources to meet
unlimited wants and needs.
Opportunity Cost - -The value of the next best alternative that is forgone when a choice is
made.
Marginal Decision Making - -The process of analyzing the additional benefits and costs of
a decision to determine the optimal choice.
Sunk Costs - -Costs that have already been incurred and cannot be recovered, which
should not influence future decisions.
Incentive - -A factor that motivates individuals to act in a certain way, often influencing
economic behavior.