BALANCE OF TRADE: The difference between funds received by a country when exporting merchandise and the funds paid for importing merchandise. The balance of trade is a major part of the current accounts portion of the balance of payments. A balance of trade surplus results if exports exceed imports, commonly termed a favorable balance of trade, and a balance of trade deficit exists if imports exceed exports, analogously termed an unfavorable balance of trade. The "favorable" and "unfavorable" normative connotations attached to the balance of trade rests with the presumption that a nation is "better off" when it exports more than it imports, which is not necessarily true.

     See also | foreign trade | export | import | current account | balance of payments | balance of trade surplus | balance of trade deficit | favorable balance of trade | unfavorable balance of trade | normative economics |

BALANCE OF TRADE, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2024. [Accessed: April 26, 2024].

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Economic profit, the difference between the total revenue received by a firm and the total opportunity cost of production, that is attributable to innovation, the initial application of new products, technologies, or ideas. Innovation profit is one of two sources of economic profit. The other is monopoly profit that arises due to market control. The generation of innovation profit is an important incentive that by rewarding individual innovative behavior enables society-wide benefits from the resulting innovations.

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