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, 2000-2026. [Accessed: August 8, 2026].

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A curve that graphically represents the relation between the marginal revenue received by a firm for selling its output and the quantity of output sold. A firm maximizes profit by producing the quantity of output found at the intersection of the marginal revenue curve and marginal cost curve. The marginal revenue curve for a firm with no market control is horizontal. The marginal revenue curve for a firm with market control is negatively sloped and lies below the average revenue curve.

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