UNIT 2: VOCABULARY

BASIC NEEDS: minimum necessary resources: food, education, healthcare, work, housing, security.

CAPITAL GOODS: goods (e.g. equipment, buildings, machinery, etc.) that are used to produce other goods or services.

CAPITALISM or MARKET ECONOMY: economic system based on free competition, private property, respect for individual autonomy and the free market.

ECONOMIC AGENTS: public administrations, households and companies, that have an influence on the economy.

ENERGY SOURCES: resources used to produce electricity: coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear energy.

FACTORS OF PRODUCTION: resources used to produce goods and provide services.

FORESTRY: exploiting forests sustainably to obtain resources (wood, rubber, resins, cork).

FREE MARKET: system in which the price of goods and services is determined by the law of supply and demand.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP): the monetary value of all goods and services produced in an area in a given year.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX (HDI): measure of quality of life based on income level, access to education and life expectancy at birth.

MIXED SYSTEMS: economic system in which the State intervenes in the market economy to control inequalities.

NATURAL RESOURCES: elements provided by nature that humans use for economic activities.

NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES: resources with very long replenishment cycles.

OVEREXPLOITATION: using natural resources faster than they can regenerate.

PLANNED ECONOMY: economic system in which the economy is centrally planned by the State.

PRIMARY SECTOR: economic activity directly involving natural resources.

RENEWABLE RESOURCES: resources replenished in a short period of time.

SECONDARY SECTOR: industrial and construction activities.

SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY: primary, secondary and tertiary.

STAGES OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY: extraction, production, distribution, consumption, waste, (recycling).

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: generating economic growth whilst maintaining social equality and environmental protection.

TERTIARY SECTOR: economic activity related to services.

WELFARE STATE: the government is responsible for basic services, paid for by taxes.