MATERIALS BALANCE: A hard and fast rule that the total amount of stuff removed from the natural environment will be eventually returned, probably as pollution. This is based on a fundamental law of physics that says material can be neither created nor destroyed, but only transformed. During any given period (such as a year) the quantity of materials returned to the environment is the difference between the quantity extracted and the quantity used by the economy.

     See also | environment | pollution | natural resources | pollution types | scarcity rent | Pigouvian tax | recycling | Coase theorem | command and control | pollution rights market |

MATERIALS BALANCE, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: April 1, 2025].

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In the long run, a perfectly competitive firm adjusts plant size, or the quantity of capital, to maximize long-run profit. In addition, the entry and exit of firms into and out of a perfectly competitive market guarantees that each perfectly competitive firm earns nothing more or less than a normal profit. As a perfectly competitive industry reacts to changes in demand, it traces out positive, negative, or horizontal long-run supply curve due to increasing, decreasing, or constant cost.

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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time wandering around the shopping mall seeking to buy either a travel case for you toothbrush or a looseleaf notebook binder. Be on the lookout for small children selling products door-to-door.
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