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ABILITY-TO-PAY PRINCIPLE: A principle of taxation in which taxes are based on the income or resource-ownership ability of people to pay the tax. The income tax collected by our friends at the Internal Revenue Service is one of the most common taxes that seeks to abide by the ability-to-pay principle. In theory, the income tax system is set up such that people with greater incomes pay more taxes. Proportional and progressive taxes follow this ability-to-pay principle, while regressive taxes, such as sales taxes and Social Security taxes, don't.

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Lesson 4: Production Possibilities | Unit 5: Investment Page: 19 of 24

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Investment is the tradeoff between consumption goods used for current satisfaction and capital goods that expand future productive capabilities.
  • Investment is not just putting money into the stock market. Investment is giving up current satisfaction to obtain greater future production, usually seen as giving up consumption goods to produce capital goods.
  • Education and human capital that increase the productive skills and ability of labor.
  • Exploration for mineral or fossil fuel deposits that add to land resources.
  • Scientific research that expands technology and resource quality.
  • The downside of investment is risk. There is no guarantee that you'll get something tomorrow.
Let's consider this basic tradeoff between capital and consumption.
  • Capital and consumption are the two basic types of goods needed for investment. If we produce more calibrators (capital), then we give up some jogging shoes (consumption).
  • This tradeoff IS the fundamental act of investment. In the graph to the right, if we move from bundle A to E to I, we are giving up jogging shoes and getting calibrators.
We are investing!

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LONG-RUN AVERAGE COST

The per unit cost of producing a good or service in the long run when all inputs under the control of the firm are variable. In other words, long-run total cost divided by the quantity of output produced. Long-run average cost is guided by returns to scale.

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APLS

BLACK DISMALAPOD
[What's This?]

Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time browsing about a thrift store seeking to buy either a genuine fake plastic Tiffany lamp or a microwave over that won't burn your popcorn. Be on the lookout for small children selling products door-to-door.
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This isn't me! What am I?

Parker Brothers, the folks who produce the Monopoly board game, prints more Monopoly money each year than real currency printed by the U.S. government.
"A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses those skills to accomplish his goals. "

-- Larry Bird, basketball player

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