Glossary#

This glossary is a list of definitions of economic terms and concepts used.

Ad Valorem Tax#: Progressive tax where the amount of tax levied is dependent on the price of the good. The most common example of this is a percentage tax.
Ceteris Paribus#: Latin phrase which translates to “all other things being equal”. It is a simplifying assumption where all variables except those of interest are held constant. Ceteris Paribus is used to simplify the analysis and description of economic outcomes.
Competition#: When various firms compete to attract patronage by offering favorable prices or increasing the quality of their good or service.
Consumer Surplus#: Difference between what the buyer paid for a good or service versus what the buyer was willing to pay for said good or service.
Deadweight Loss#: The volume of market activity which would have happened had the government not intervened.
Demand#: The total amount of a certain good or service demanded by buyers in a market.
Economics#: Social science which studies production, distribution, and consumption.
Elasticity#: The measure of the percent change of one variable as a result of a percent change in another.
Market#: Any place where parties can gather to buy and sell goods. The term is very broad, and it can be used to describe various things. For instance, it can refer to a group of people who buy and sell a specific good or service in a particular place, such as the Montréal real estate market, or it can refer to a particular industry, such as the global oil market.
Monopoly#: A market in which there is little to no competition, leading to a situation where a particular firm is the only supplier of a good or service.
Opportunity Cost#: The potential benefits that are forfeited when one chooses an alternative over the other.
Supply#: The total amount of a certain good or service supplied by suppliers in a market.
Specific Tax#: Fixed amount of tax which is levied on every unit of produce.
Price Controls#: Government restrictions imposed to regulate the trade of a certain good or service.
Producer Surplus#: Difference between the price at which a producer is willing to bring a good or service to market versus the price the supplier did bring said good or service for.