ECONOMY: The system of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services that a society uses to address the problem of scarcity. The essential task of an economy is to transform resources into useful goods and services (the act of production), then distribute or allocate these products to useful ends (the act of consumption). Virtually all economies accomplish this task through a combination of decisions made through voluntary market exchanges and involuntary government rules and regulations.

     See also | economic system | three questions of allocation | institution | household sector | business sector | government sector | limited resources | unlimited wants and needs | ownership and control | resources | capitalism | private sector | public sector | private property | mixed economy | market-oriented economy | communism | socialism | pure market economy | pure command economy | first estate | second estate | third estate | fourth estate |

ECONOMY, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: July 16, 2025].

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A shock to the short-run aggregate market caused by an increase in aggregate demand, resulting in and illustrated by a rightward shift of the aggregate demand curve. An increase in aggregate demand in the short-run aggregate market results in an increase in the price level and an increase in real production. The level of real production resulting from the shock can be greater or less than full-employment real production.

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