Economy
The economy is the total of all activities related to the production, sale, distribution, exchange, and consumption of limited resources by a group of people living and operating within it.
Guide to the Economy
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What is a command economy?
In a command economy, a centralized government controls the means of production and it decides the output levels for that production. This type of economy is often associated with communist nations. The advantages of this approach include better equality and lower unemployment, but there is often a lack of efficiency or innovation in those economies.
Learn More: Command Economy: Advantages and Disadvantages -
What is a market economy?
A market economy, or free economy, is directed through the laws of supply and demand to set the prices and quantities for most goods and services. Most developed nations are technically mixed economies because they blend free markets with some government interference such as industrial subsidies, licensing, and price fixing.
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What does inflation do to an economy?
Inflation means the rate at which the same goods and services come to cost more. If a person's income doesn't keep up with inflation, it can decrease your purchasing power. It can also lower the value of Treasury bonds. But if some level of inflation is expected, it can drive consumer spending, which drives economic growth.
Learn More: When Is Inflation Good for the Economy -
How stocks help the economy
When the price of a large number of stocks is on the rise, it can lead to higher consumer and business confidence, higher spending on big-ticket items such as cars and houses, and an increase in investors entering the stock market. These factors can all lead to greater economic development of a country.
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What type of economy does the U.S. have?
The United States has a mixed economy. It combines elements of a command economy with a market economy. A mixed economy allows for government oversight and regulation to achieve public good while also allowing things like consumer goods and services to be regulated by the laws of supply and demand.
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Economy
An economy encompasses all activity related to the production, consumption, trade, and distribution of available goods and services. The management of those resources is used to satisfy the needs of the people, businesses, organizations, and governments in a specific area.
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Money
Currency, or money, is a generally accepted, recognized, and centralized medium of exchange that market participants use to engage in transactions for goods and services in an economy. Each government has its own money system that is monitored by a central authority.
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Trade
The buying, selling, or bartering of goods and services is known as trade. In an economy, a trade takes place between a producer and a consumer, usually in exchange for money. An exchange of goods and services between two countries is international trade.
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Knowledge Economy
A knowledge economy is a system of consumption and production based on the intangible assets of intellectual capital. It refers to the ability to capitalize on scientific discoveries and academic research, and has come to represent a large component of all economic activity in developed countries.
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Wealth
Wealthy is an abundant supply of valuable economic assets or resources owned by a person, company, community, or nation. It can be determined by subtracting debt from the total market value of all physical and intangible assets.
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Law of Supply and Demand
The law of supply and demand is an economic theory based on two separate "laws" that explain the interaction between the sellers of a resource and the buyers of that resource. The theory defines the relationship between the price of a given good or product and the willingness of people to either buy or sell it. Generally, as the price increases, people are willing to supply more and demand less and vice versa when the price falls.
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Inflation
A decline of the purchasing power of a specific currency over time is known as inflation. You can see the rate of decline reflected in the increase of an average price level of a basket of selected goods and services in an economy over a specified period of time. The rise in the general level of prices, often expressed as a percentage, means that a unit of currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.
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Organized Labor
An association of workers united as a single entity, known as organized labor or a union, seek to improve the economic status and working conditions of employees through collective bargaining with management.
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Sluggish Economy
The colloquial phrase "sluggish economy" is not an exact and quantifiable thing. It is derived from an analogy to a slug and refers to an economy in which growth is slow in macroeconomic terms. It can be used to describe an entire economy or a segment of it.
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Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a broad measure of a country's overall domestic production and a measure of that country's overall economic health. It is calculated by the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period.
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