Saving – The amount of income that is not used for
consumption expenditures or paid in net taxes.
Scarce – Limited in nature.
Scarcity – The condition that exists because our wants
exceed the ability of resources to satisfy them.
Scatter diagram – A graph of the value of one variable
plotted against the value of another variable.
Search activity – The time spent looking for someone to do
business with.
Seasonal unemployment – The unemployment that exists because
of seasonal economic activity, such as harvest and planting seasons.
Self-interest – The choices that are best for the individual
that makes them.
Services – The things that we buy that do not involve the
production of physical goods. Services
include: education, haircuts, medical and legal services.
Shares of stock – Financial instruments that give the holder
of a share a percentage of ownership in the firm, and a right to a share of the
firm’s profits.
Shift of a supply curve -- The change that takes place in a
supply curve due to a change in one of the determinants of supply. Don’t confuse this with a “movement” along
the supply curve.
Shift of the demand curve – The change that takes place in a
demand curve due to a change in one of the determinants of demand. Don’t confuse this with a “movement” along
the demand curve.
Shock therapy – One possible approach to transition from a
socialist market structure to a capitalist market structure. This approach believes in rapid
liberalization of trade, privatization, and deregulation of prices.
Short run – The time frame where the quantities of some
inputs are fixed, such as the size of a building or the number of machines.
Shortage – A situation where the quantity demanded exceeds
the quantity supplied (which will result in higher prices).
Shutdown point – The point where price equals the minimum
average variable cost for the perfectly competitive firm and the quantity
produced that is associated with this price/cost.
Single-price monopoly – A monopoly that must sell every good
or service that it produces for the same price to all consumers.
Slope – A measurement of a curve that indicates whether the
relationship between two variables is either positive or negative. The slope also states how much of a change in
Y there will be when X changes.
Social interest – The choices that are best for the whole
society.
Social interest theory – The theory that government
regulation can achieve efficient allocation of resources.
Stabilization policy – Both monetary and fiscal policies
that aim to smooth out fluctuations in output, employment and prices.
Stagflation – A situation where the economy is experiencing
both high inflation and high unemployment.
Generally a difficult situation because government policies usually have
to trade off between the two.
Standard of living – The level of consumption of goods and
services on average, which is generally measured by average income per person.
Statistical discrepancy – A data measurement error.
Sticky prices – Prices that do not adjust rapidly to
maintain equilibrium.
Sticky wages – The downward rigidity (people don’t want
lower wages) of wages, a possible cause for unemployment.
Stock – A certificate that shows ownership of a certain
portion of a business.
Store of value – An asset that can be used to transport
purchasing power over time. For example,
Gold has good store of value, but fish does not (it can rot and lose value).
Strategies – All of the possible actions of each player in a
game theory game.
Structural adjustment – A series of programs in developing
countries with the goal of: reducing the size of their public sectors,
decreasing their deficit budgets, controlling inflation, and encouraging
private savings and investment.
Structural deficit – The deficit that remains, even at full
employment.
Structural unemployment – The percentage of unemployment
that occurs because of changes in the structure of the economy that may result
in significant job loss in certain industries.
Such as call centers moving to India, or manufacturing moving to China.
Subsidy – A payment from the government to a producer of a
good or service (kind of like a reverse tax).
Substitutes – Goods or services that can serve as replaces
for each other. When the price of one
substitute rises, the demand for the other substitute will increase.
Substitutes in production – A good that can be produced in
the place of another good. For example,
raw milk can either be used to produce drinkable milk, or cheese, so drinkable
milk and cheese are substitutes in production.
Sunk costs – Costs that have already occurred and should not
be considered in current decision making analysis if using marginal analysis.
Supply curve – A graph that shows how much of a good or
service a firm will sell at different market prices.
Supply of labor – The relationship between the quantity of
labor supplied and the real wage rate.
Supply schedule – A table that shows how much a of a good or
service a firm will sell at different market prices.
Surplus – A situation in which the quantity supplied exceeds
the quantity demanded (which will result in a lower price).
