quotas 配額
limits on the amount of foreign goods that can be imported
 
R
 
Rational expectations 理性預期
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
as prices fall, the real value of people's money holdings increases, and they consume more
 
real business-cycle theorists 實際經濟周期理論家
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 工作權利法
laws that prevent union membership from being a condition of employment
 
risk averse / loving / neutral 厭惡風險/喜愛風險/中性風險
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
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 軟預算約束
budget constraints facing a firm in which the government subsidizes any losses
 
static expectations 靜態預期
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 貿易余額
The value of a nation's exports minus the value of its imports, also called net exports
 
Trade deficit 貿易赤字
An excess of imports over exports
 
Trade policy 貿易政策
A government policy that directly influences the quantity of goods and services that a country imports or exports
 
Trade surplus 貿易盈余
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
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