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TANSTAAFL: A rather cumbersome and usually hard to remember acronym for the expression "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. This is a favorite saving of many economists because it highlights, albeit in a grammatically questionable manner, the fundamental problem of scarcity. The phrase serves to emphasize that seemingly "free" lunches are not really free. While they might be free to the customer, someone must pay, that is, incur an opportunity cost of foregone production. The lunch eaten by one person cannot be eaten by another.
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                           SERVICES, CONSUMPTION: Personal consumption expenditures on activities that provide direct satisfaction of wants and needs without the production of tangible goods. Common examples are information, entertainment, and education. This is one of three categories of personal consumption expenditures in the National Income and Product Accounts maintained by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The other two are durable goods and nondurable goods. Services are about 60 percent of personal consumption expenditures and 40 percent of gross domestic product. Services are consumption activities purchased by the household sector that generally provide for direct satisfaction without a physical, tangible product. Household expenditures on services are generally unaffected by business cycles. In good times and bad, the household sector continues to purchase services at a relatively constant pace.The four main categories of services in the National Income and Product Accounts are "housing," "household operation," "transportation," and "medical care." Housing and medical care are the two largest of these four categories, each about 25 percent of consumer expenditures on services. Household operation takes up 10 percent. And, transportation is the smallest of the four, at less than 8 percent. The services category of personal consumption expenditures is extremely diverse, as reflected by the size of the "other" category, which is in the neighborhood of 30 percent. A notable point about the services category of personal consumption expenditures is its size. Sixty percent of the expenditures made by the household sector and 40 percent of all purchases for GDP are services. This means that A LOT of economic production takes place each year that does NOT involve tangible products. This has not always been the way of the economic world. A hundred years ago, even fifty years ago, the vast majority of the productivity activity in the economy was the production of tangible products. Services, however, have become and will continue to be increasingly important. But do not be overly alarmed. The change in the mix of goods and services produced and consumed in the economy is a reflection of economic progress. Two hundred years ago, consumers were primarily concerned with acquiring food, clothing, and shelter. A hundred years ago, consumers had most of the food, clothing, and shelter needed, so they sought other tangible goods like cars and household appliances. Now, consumers have food, clothing, shelter, cars, and appliances, and what they seek is entertainment, education, and medical care. Being able seek these services means that consumers have come a long, long way in satisfying wants and needs. And that is progress.
 Recommended Citation:SERVICES, CONSUMPTION, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: February 15, 2025]. Check Out These Related Terms... | | | | | | | | Or For A Little Background... | | | | | | | | | | | | And For Further Study... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Related Websites (Will Open in New Window)... | | |
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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time at a crowded estate auction wanting to buy either a New York Yankees baseball cap or several magazines on home repairs. Be on the lookout for letters from the Internal Revenue Service. Your Complete Scope
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In the early 1900s around 300 automobile companies operated in the United States.
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"An idea is never given to you without you being given the power to make it reality." -- Richard Bach, Author
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MPP Marginal Physical Product
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