Economics: Social Studies Terms Explained

Plain-language definitions of every economics term your child meets in school, each with kid-friendly explanations, worked examples, and common mistakes to watch for.

Scarcity

Scarcity is the basic economic idea that there are not enough resources, goods, or services to give everyone everything they want, so people and societies must make choices about how to use what they have.

Specialization

Specialization is when a person, business, or place focuses on doing one type of job or making one kind of product very well, instead of trying to do everything.

Stock market

The stock market is a system where people buy and sell small ownership shares of companies, called stocks, and where prices change based on what buyers and sellers think those companies are worth.

Supply and demand

Supply and demand is a basic idea in economics that explains how much of something people are willing to sell, how much people want to buy, and how these two forces work together to help set prices in a market.

Supply chain

A supply chain is the step-by-step system that moves a product from its starting materials, through factories and transportation, to stores and finally to customers.

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