Free SACE Economics Flashcard Review

The fundamental economic problem that resources (land, labour, capital) are limited, but human wants are unlimited, forcing choices about production and consumption.

The value of the next best alternative forgone when a choice is made; measured in terms of what is sacrificed, not just money.

A graph showing the maximum combinations of two goods an economy can produce with full, efficient use of its resources; points inside show inefficiency, outside are unattainable.

A simplified representation of reality used to explain and predict economic behaviour; examples include demand–supply diagrams and the circular flow.

Shows underutilisation of resources (productive inefficiency); the economy is not operating at full capacity, perhaps due to unemployment.

Shows productive efficiency; the economy is using all resources fully and efficiently with no waste.

Is unattainable with current resources and technology; the economy cannot produce this combination unless resources increase or technology improves.

Give a specific name, value or feature; a brief, precise answer without explanation.

Shows a decrease in productive capacity, usually from a loss of resources (war, emigration) or a decrease in technology or efficiency.

Provide a brief account or summary of the key points; less detailed than explain, but more structured than state.

Give a detailed account including reasons or causes; show understanding of the 'why' and 'how'.

Provide reasoned evidence or arguments to support your answer; back up your claim with data or logic.

Break down information and incorporate specific data from the stimulus; examine relationships and implications.

Consider multiple perspectives or sides, weigh their relative importance or validity, and form a judgement.

Weigh strengths and limitations, reach a conclusion and justify it with reference to the scenario.

Identify both similarities and differences; avoid listing only one or the other.

The sum of all values divided by the number of observations; useful for averages but can be skewed by extreme values.

The middle value when observations are arranged in order; not affected by extreme values and useful for skewed distributions.

Values that divide a distribution into equal parts; quartiles divide into fourths, quintiles into fifths. Used to show inequality.

A measure of how spread out the data is around the mean; larger variance means greater variability.