Economics and Business Glossary terms meaning

Business
An organisation, enterprise or business engaged in the production and trade of goods and services, usually for profit.
Business environment
The contemporary events or trends that influence a business, industry or market.
Capital
All equipment (machinery, buildings, infrastructure) used by human labour in the process of production, for example a secretary uses a computer; a bricklayer uses a trowel; a farmer uses a plough.
Competitive advantage
An advantage that a business holds over others in its industry, sector or location. The advantage means that the business is able to sell more of a product, or operate at a lower cost, or better meet the needs of consumers. Competitive advantage usually implies that the business is more profitable than its competitors.
Consumer
A person or a group that is the final user of goods and services produced within an economy.
Cost-benefit analysis
The benefits and costs of a project or decision are determined and evaluated. The evaluation includes monetary and non-monetary effects.
Economics
A social science (study of human behaviour) that studies the decisions made by individuals, households, businesses, governments and other groups about how scarce resources are allocated in attempting to satisfy unlimited needs and wants.
Economy
All activities undertaken for the purpose of the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services in a region or country.
Economic and business reasoning and interpretation
Applying the principles of economics to understand the possible causes and effects of economic events and changes; including the use of economic and business concepts to explain and analyse economic and business events and issues. 
Entrepreneur
An individual who starts or takes over control of a business or independent organisation, often employing initiative, innovation and risk-taking.
Equity
The perceived fairness of the way scarce resources are used and the way the benefits of production are distributed.
Goods
Tangible (physical) items that can be seen and touched and which satisfy individual and societal needs and wants.
Interdependence
The joint dependence between participants in the economy; that is, the reliance of consumers, workers, businesses and governments on each other. In modern economies, people tend to specialise in the production of a good or service, and trade that item for another which they could not provide or produce for themselves.
Living standards
The amount of wealth, comfort, material goods and necessities of a particular individual, society or country and which may vary over time and in response to changing economic conditions.
Market
The organised exchange of goods, services or resources between buyers and sellers.
Needs
A good or service that consumers consider necessary to maintain their standard of living.
Opportunity cost
What you have to forgo if you choose to do A rather than B. That is, the value of the next best alternative that is foregone whenever a choice is made.
Price mechanism (setting of prices)
Describes the means by which the forces of demand and supply determine prices and the allocation of scarce resources between competing uses.
Producers
Individuals and businesses involved in the production of goods and services.
Resources
The materials used to produce goods and services that satisfy needs and wants. The four economic resources (factors of production) are land, labour, capital and enterprise. Production usually requires the combination of resources.
Resource allocation
Limited resources are assigned (allocated) to produce goods and services to meet society’s needs and unlimited wants.
Sustainable development
Refers to development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development values resources for their future as well as current uses.
Scarcity
The economic problem of having unlimited needs and wants, but limited resources that can be used to achieve them.
Trade-off
A sacrifice that must be made when choosing how to use resources. The preferred (next best) alternative is known as the opportunity cost.
Wants
A good or service that is desired in order to provide satisfaction to the user, but which is not necessary for survival or to meet the basic standard of living in a community.
Wellbeing
An overall measure of quality of life for individuals and society.

Terms in elaborations only
Demand
The quantity of a good, or a service, that consumers are willing and able to purchase at a particular point in time. This demand may change over time and in response to economic conditions.
Economic growth
The increase in the quantity of goods and services produced in an economy over a period of time. It refers to the increasing ability of society to satisfy the needs and wants of its people.
Not-for-profit
A sector of the economy comprised of businesses and non-government organisations that use their surplus funds to achieve goals rather than distribute these funds to the owners. Not-for-profit organisations often exist in the form of charities, service organisations and clubs.
Productivity
The efficiency with which an economy employs resources to produce goods and services.
Supply
The amount of goods and services that are available in the market, that is, the quantity of goods and services that producers are willing to offer for sale.