P
Perfect complements 完全互補品
Two goods with right-angle indifference curves
Perfect substitutes 完全替代品
Two goods with straight-line indifference curves
Permanent income 持久收入
A person's normal income
Phillips curve 菲利普斯曲線
A curve that shows the short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment
Physical capital 物質(zhì)資本
The stock of equipment and structures that are used to produce goods and services
Pigovian tax 庇古稅
A tax enacted to correct the effects of a negative externality
Positive statements 實證表述
Claims that attempt to describe the world as it is
Poverty line 貧困線
An absolute level of income set by the federal government for each family size below which a family is deemed to be in poverty
Poverty rate 貧困率
The percentage of the population whose family income falls below an absolute level called the poverty line
Price ceiling 價格上限
A legal maximum on the price at which a good can be sold
Price discrimination 價格歧視
The business practice of selling the same good at different prices to different customers
Price elasticity of demand 需求價格彈性
A measure of how much the quantity demanded of a good responds to a change in the price of that good, computed as a percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price
Price elasticity of supply 供給價格彈性
A measure of how much the quantity supplied of a good responds to a change in the price of that good, computed as the percentage change in quantity supplied divided by the percentage change in price
Price floor 價格下限
A legal minimum on the price at which a good can be sold
Prisoners' dilemma 囚犯的兩難處境
A particular 'game' between two captured prisoners that illustrates why cooperation is difficult to maintain even when it is mutually beneficial
Private goods 私人物品
Goods that are both excludable and rival
Private saving 私人儲蓄
The income that households have left after paying for taxes and consumption
Producer price index 生產(chǎn)物價指數(shù)
A measure of the cost of a basket of goods and services bought by firms
Producer surplus 生產(chǎn)者剩余
The amount a seller is paid for a good minus the seller's cost
Production function 生產(chǎn)函數(shù)
The relationship between quantity of inputs used to make a good and the quantity of output of that good
Production possibilities frontier 生產(chǎn)可能性邊界
A graph that shows the various combinations of output that the economy can possibly produce given the available factors of production and the available production technology
Productivity 生產(chǎn)率
The amount of goods and services produced from each hour of a worker's time; The quantity of goods and services produced from each hour of a worker's time
Profit 利潤
Total revenue minus total cost
Progressive tax 累進稅
A tax for which high-income taxpayers pay a larger fraction of their income than do low-income taxpayers
Proportional tax 比例稅
A tax for which high-income and low-income taxpayers pay the same fraction of income
Public goods 公共物品
Goods that are neither excludable nor rival
Public saving 公共儲蓄
The tax revenue that the government has left after paying for its spending
Pareto-efficient allocations 帕雷托有效配置
resource allocations, that cannot make a person better off without making someone else worse off
partial equilibrium analysis 局部均衡分析
an analysis that focuses on only one or a few markets at a time
partnership 合伙制
a business owned by two or more individuals, who share the profits and are jointly liable for any losses
patent 專利
a government decree giving an inventor the exclusive right to produce, use, or sell an invention
paternalism 父愛主義
the making of judgments by government about what is good for people to have, rather than letting people choose on their own
payroll tax 工薪稅
a tax based on payroll (wages) that is used to finance the Social Security and Medicare programs
perfect competition 完全競爭
situation in which each firm is a price taker--it cannot influence the market price; at the market price the firm can sell as much as it wishes, but if it raises its price, it loses all sales
perfectly mobile capita 具有完全流動性的資本
capital that responds quickly to changes in returns in different countries
permanent-income hypothesis 永久收入假說
the theory that individuals base their current consumption levels on their permanent (long-run average) income
permanent-income savings motive 永久收入儲蓄動機
people save in good years, to tide them over in bad years; they choose their pattern of savings and spending year by year to average or smooth their consumption over good years and bad
piece-rate system 計件工資制度
a compensation system in which workers are paid specifically for each item produced
planned or unplanned inventories 計劃或無計劃庫存
planned inventories are those firms choose to have on hand because they make business more efficient; unplanned inventories result when cannot sell what they produce
policy ineffectiveness 政策無效性命題
the proposition that government policies are ineffective--policies aimed at stimulating aggregate demand at most change the price level
planned economy 計劃經(jīng)濟
an economy in which most decisions about resource allocation are made by the government
portfolio theories 資產(chǎn)組合理論
theories that argue that monetary policy affects output through its effect on prices of various assets, in particular the prices of stocks
portfolio 資產(chǎn)組合
an investor's entire collection of assets and liabilities
potential GDP 潛在GDP
a measure of what the value of GDP would be if the economy's resources were fully employed
potential output 潛在產(chǎn)出
the level of output that would prevail if labor were fully employed (output may exceed that level if workers work more than the normal level of overtime)
precautionary savings motive 謹慎儲蓄動機
people save to guard against the chance of an unexpected illness or accident
predatory pricing 掠奪性定價
the practice of cutting prices below the marginal costs of production to drive out a new firm (or to deter future entry), at which point prices can be raised again
present discounted value 現(xiàn)期貼現(xiàn)值
how much an amount of money to be received in the future is worth right now
price index 價格指數(shù)
a measure of the level of prices found by comparing the cost of a certain basket of goods in one year with that cost in a base year
principal 本金
the original amount a saver deposits in a bank or a borrower borrows
principal-agent problem 所有者—代理人問題
any situation in which one party (the principal) needs to delegate actions to another party (the agent), and thus wishes to provide the agent with incentives to work hard and make decisions about risk that reflects the interests of the principal
private marginal cost 私人邊際成本
the marginal cost of production borne by the producer of a good; when there is a negative externality, such as air pollution, private marginal cost is less than social marginal cost
privatization 私有化
the process whereby functions that were formally run by the government are delegated instead to the private sector
product differentiation 產(chǎn)品差異
the fact that similar products (like breakfast cereals or soft drinks) are perceived to differ from one another and thus are imperfect substitutes
product market 產(chǎn)品市場
the market in which goods and services are bought and sold
product-mix efficiency 產(chǎn)品組合效應(yīng)
the condition in which the mix of goods produced by the economy reflects the preferences of consumers
production efficiency 生產(chǎn)效率
the condition in which firms cannot produce more of some goods without producing less of other goods
productivity (GDP per hour) 生產(chǎn)率/平均每人時的GDP
how much an average worker produces per hour, calculated by dividing real GDP by hours worked in the economy
proprietorship 獨資企業(yè)
a business owned by a single person, usually a small business
protectionism 保護主義
a policy of protecting domestic industries from foreign-made competition
pure profit (monopoly rents) 純利潤或壟斷租金
the profit earned by a monopolist that results from its reducing output and increasing the price from the level at which price equals marginal cost
Q
Quantity demanded 需求量
The amount of a good that buyers are willing and able to purchase
Quantity equation 貨幣數(shù)量方程式
The equation MxV=PxY, which relates the quantity of money, the velocity of money and the dollar value of the economy's output of goods and services
Quantity supplied 供給量
The amount of a good that sellers are willing and able to sell
Quantity theory of money 貨幣數(shù)量論
A theory that asserts that the quantity of money available determines the price level and that the growth rate in the quantity of money available determines the inflation rate; The theory that velocity is constant, so that changes in the money supply lead to proportionale changes in nominal income (which also equals the value of output)
quota rents 配額租金
profits that accrue to firms which are allocated the rights to import a good subject to quotas that result from the artificially created scarcity
quotas 配額
limits on the amount of foreign goods that can be imported
R
Rational expectations 理性預(yù)期
The theory according to which people optimally use all the information they have, including information about government policies, when forecasting the future
Real GDP 實際GDP
The production of goods and services valued at constant prices
Real exchange rate 實際匯率
The rate at which a person can trade the goods and services of one country for the goods and services of another
Real interest rate 實際利率
The interest rate corrected for the effects of inflation
Real variables 實際變量
Variables measured in physical units
Recession 衰退
A period of declining real incomes and rising unemployment
Regressive tax 累退稅
A tax for which high-income taxpayers pay a smaller fraction of their income than do low-income taxpayers
Reserve ratio 準備金率
The fraction of deposits that banks hold as reserves
Reserve requirements 法定準備金
Regulations on the minimum amount of reserves that banks must hold against deposits
Reserves 準備金
Deposits that banks have received but have not lent out
Rivalness 競爭性
The property of a good that one person's use diminishes other people's use
random walk 隨機行走
a term used to describe the way prices of stock move, where the next movement cannot be predicted on the basis of previous movements
rationing systems 配給制
ways of distributing goods that do not rely on prices, such as queues, lotteries, and coupons
real balance effect 實際余額效應(yīng)
as prices fall, the real value of people's money holdings increases, and they consume more
real business-cycle theorists 實際經(jīng)濟周期理論家
a school of economists who contend that the economy's fluctuations have nothing to do with monetary policy but are determined by real forces
real income 實際收入
income measured by what it can actually buy, rather than by the amount of money
real product wage 實際產(chǎn)品工資
the wage divided by the price of the good being produced
regulatory capture 管制俘虜
a term used to describe a situation in which regulators serve the interests of the regulated rather than the interests of consumers
relative performance compensation 相對表現(xiàn)補償
pay (compensation) based on performance on the job relative to others who have similar responsibilities and authority
rent seeking 尋租
the name given to behavior that seeks to obtain benefits from favorable government decisions, such as protection from foreign competition
revenue curve 收益曲線
the relationship between a firm's total output and its revenue
revenues 收益
the amount a firm receives for selling its products, equal to the price received multiplied by the quantity sold
right-to-work laws 工作權(quán)利法
laws that prevent union membership from being a condition of employment
risk averse / loving / neutral 厭惡風(fēng)險/喜愛風(fēng)險/中性風(fēng)險
given equal expected returns and different risks risk averse people will choose assets with lower risk, risk loving people will choose assets with higher risk, and risk-neutral individuals will not care about differences in risk
risk premium 風(fēng)險收益
the additional interest required by lenders as compensation for the risk that a borrower may default; more generally, the extra return required to compensate an investor
S
Sacrifice ratio 犧牲率
The number of percentage points of annual output that is lost in the process of reducing inflation by one percentage point
Scarcity 希缺性
The limited nature of society's resources
Shoeleather costs 皮鞋成本
The resources wasted when inflation encourages people to reduce their money holdings
Stagflation 滯脹
A period of falling output and rising prices
Stock 股票
A claim to partial ownership in a firm
Store of value 價值儲藏
An item that people can use to transfer purchasing power from the present to the future
Strike 罷工
The organized withdrawal of labor from a firm by a union
Substitutes 替代品
Two goods for which an increase in the price of one good leads to an increase in the demand for the other good
Substitution effect 替代效應(yīng)
The change in consumption that results when a price change moves the consumer along a given indifference curve to a point with a new marginal rate of substitution
Supply curve 供給曲線
A graph of the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity supplied
Supply schedule 供給表
A table that shows the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity supplied
screening 篩選
the process of differentiating among job candidates, when there is incomplete information, to determine who will be the most productive
shadow price 影子價格
the true social value of a resource
signaling 信號
conveying information, for example by earning a college-degree, to persuade an employer that a prospective worker has desirable characteristics that will enhance his productivity
slope 斜率
the amount by which the value along the vertical axis increases as a result of a change in a unit along the horizontal axis; the slope is calculated by dividing the change in the vertical axis (the "rise") by the change in the horizontal axis (the "run")
Smith's "invisible hand" 斯密“看不見的手”
the idea that if people act in their own self-interest, they will often also be acting in a broader social interest, as if they had been directed by an "invisible hand"
smoothing consumption 均勻消費
consuming similar amounts in the present and future, rather than letting year-to-year income dictate consumption
social marginal cost 社會邊際成本
the marginal cost of production, including the costs of any negative externality, such as air pollution, borne by individuals in the economy other than the producer
socialism 社會主義
an economic system in which the means of production are controlled by the state
soft budget constraints 軟預(yù)算約束
budget constraints facing a firm in which the government subsidizes any losses
static expectations 靜態(tài)預(yù)期
the belief of individuals that today's prices and wages are likely to continue into the future
sticky prices 粘性價格
prices that do not adjust or only adjust slowly toward a new equilibrium
sticky wages 粘性工資
wages that are slow to adjust in response to a change in labor market conditions
stock statistics 存量統(tǒng)計
measurements of the quantity of a certain item at a certain point in time, such as capital stock, the total value of buildings and machines
sunk cost 沉沒成本
a cost that has been incurred and cannot be recovered
supply-constrained equilibrium 供給約束的均衡
the equilibrium that occurs when prices are stuck at a level below that at which aggregate demand equals aggregate supply; in a supply-constrained equilibrium, output is equal to aggregate supply but less than aggregate demand
surplus labor 剩余勞動
a great deal of unemployed or under employed labor, readily available to potential employers
T
Tariff 關(guān)稅
A tax on goods produced abroad and sold domestically
Tax incidence 稅收歸宿
The study of who bears the burden of taxation
Technological knowledge 技術(shù)知識
Society's understanding of the best ways to produce goods and services
Theory of liquidity preference 流動偏好理論
Keynes' theory that the interest rate adjusts to bring money supply and money demand into balance
Total cost 總成本
The amount a firm pays to buy the inputs into production
Total revenue 總收益
The amount a firm receives for the sale of its output; The amount paid by buyers and received by sellers of a good, computed as the price of the good times the quantity sold
Trade balance 貿(mào)易余額
The value of a nation's exports minus the value of its imports, also called net exports
Trade deficit 貿(mào)易赤字
An excess of imports over exports
Trade policy 貿(mào)易政策
A government policy that directly influences the quantity of goods and services that a country imports or exports
Trade surplus 貿(mào)易盈余
An excess of exports over imports
Tragedy of the Commons 公用地悲劇
A parable that illustrates why common resources get used more than is desirable from the standpoint of society as a whole
Transaction costs 交易成本
The costs that parties incur in the process of agreeing and following through on a bargain
tacit collusion 暗中勾結(jié)
collusive behavior among the firms of an oligpoly based on an implicit understanding that it is in each firm's best interest not to compete too vigourously; they tacitly understand that it is undesirable to undercut each others' prices, but there is no open discussion about price fixing
takeover 收購
when one management team (one firm) takes over the control of another
target savings motive 目標儲蓄動機
people save for a particular target, for example to make a down payment on a house or to pay college tuition
tax expenditures 稅收支出
the revenue lost from a tax subsidy
tax-favored assets
the return on these assets receives favorable tax treatment, such as tax-exempt municipal bonds
tax subsidies 稅收補貼
subsidies provided through the tax system to particular industries or to particular expenditures, in the form of favorable tax treatment
technological risks 技術(shù)風(fēng)險
risks facing a firm associated with technology, such as whether a new technology will work or be reliable
theorem 定理
a logical proposition that follows from basic definitions and assumptions
theory 理論
a set of assumptions and the conclusions derived from those assumptions put forward as an explanation for some phenomena
thin markets 薄弱市場
markets with relatively few buyers and sellers
tie-ins 搭售
a restrictive practice in which a customer who buys one product must buy another
time constraints 時間約束
the limitations on consumption of different goods imposed by the fact that households have only a limited amount of time to spend (twenty-four hours a day). The time constraint defines the opportunity set of individuals if the only constraint that they face is time
time value of money 貨幣的時間價值
the fact that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future is called the time value of money
total factor productivity analysis 總生產(chǎn)要素分析
the analysis of the relationship between output and the aggregate of all inputs; total factor productivity growth is calculated as the difference between the rate of growth of output and the weighted average rate of growth of inputs, where the weight associated with each input is its share in GDP
trade creation 貿(mào)易創(chuàng)造
new trade that is generated as a result of lowered tariff barriers
trade diversion 貿(mào)易多樣化
trade that is diverted away from outside countries as a result of lowering tariffs between the members of a trading bloc
trade-offs 交易
the amount of one good (or one desirable objective) that must be given up to get more of another good (or to attain more of another desirable objective)
trade secret 商業(yè)秘密
an innovation or knowledge of a production process that a firm does not disclose to others
trading blocs 商業(yè)集團
groups of countries that agree to lower trade and other economic barriers among themselves
traditional monetary theory 傳統(tǒng)貨幣理論
the theory (first developed by John Maynard Keynes, and therefore sometimes referred to as Keynesian monetary theory) that the nominal interest rate is the opportunity cost of holding money, that the demand for money decreases as the interest rate rises, and that the interest rate is determined to equate the demand and supply of money
transactions demand for money 貨幣的交易需求
the demand for money arising from its use in buying goods and services
transfer programs 轉(zhuǎn)移支付計劃
programs directly concerned with redistribution, such as AFDC and Medicaid, that move money from one group in society to another
transplants 移植
plants constructed in one country by firms based in another. U.S. factories producing Mazdas and Toyotas are Japanese transplants
Treasury bills (T-bills) 短期國庫券
bills the government sells in return for a promise to pay a certain amount in a short period, usually less than 180 days
trough 波谷
the bottom of a recession
trusts 信托公司
organizations that attempted to control certain markets in the late nineteenth century; they were designed to allow an individual or group owning a small fraction of the total industry to exercise control
two-tier wage system 雙重工資系統(tǒng)
wage systems in which newly hired workers are paid lower wages than established workers are paid
U
Unemployment insurance 失業(yè)保險
A government program that partially protects workers' incomes when they become unemployed
Unemployment rate 失業(yè)率
The percentage of the labor force that is not employed
Union 工會
A worker association that bargains with employers over wages and working conditions
Unit of account 計價單位
The yardstick with which people post prices and record debts
Utilitarianism 功利主義
The political philosophy according to which the government should choose policies to maximize the total utility of everyone in society
Utility 效用
A measure of happiness or satisfaction
union shops 工會化企業(yè)
unionized firms in which all workers are required to join the union as a condition of employment
utility possibilities curve效用可能性曲線
a curve showing the maximum level of utility that one individual can attain, given the level of utility attained by others
V
Value of the marginal product 邊際產(chǎn)量價值
The marginal product of an input times the price of the output
Variable costs 可變成本
Cost that do vary with the quantity of output produced
Velocity of money 貨幣流通速度
The rate at which money changes hands
Vertical equity 縱向公平
The idea that taxpayers with a greater ability to pay taxes should pay larger amounts
variable inputs 可變投入
inputs that rise or fall with the quantity of output
velocity 流通速度
the speed with which money circulates in the economy, defined as the ratio of income to the money supply
vertical merger 縱向兼并
a merger between two firms, one of which is a supplier or distributor for the other
voluntary unemployment 自愿失業(yè)
a situation in which workers voluntarily drop out of the labor force when the wage level falls
voting paradox 投票悖論
the fact that under some circumstances there may be no determinate outcome with majority voting: choice A wins a majority over B, B wins over C, and C wins over A
W
Welfare economics 福利經(jīng)濟學(xué)
The study of how the allocation of resources affects economic well-being
Willingness to pay 支付意愿
The maximum amount that a buyer will pay for a good
World price 世界價格
The price of a good that prevails in the world market for that good
wage discrimination 工資歧視
paying lower wages to women or minorities
wage-productivity curve 工資—生產(chǎn)率曲線
the curve that depicts the relationship between wages and productivity
wholesale price index 批發(fā)價格指數(shù)
a price index that measures the average level of wholesale prices
work sharing 工作分攤
reducing all employees' hours by equal amounts rather than firing some workers
World Trade Organization (WTO) 世界貿(mào)易組織
the organization established in 1995, as a result of the Uruguay round of trade negotiations, replacing GATT, designed to remove trade barriers and settle trade disputes
Z
zero elasticity 零彈性
a demand (or supply) curve has zero elasticity if the quantity demanded (or supplied) does not change at all if price changes; the demand (supply) curve is vertical