📚 Year 10 Edexcel Economics: Quick Guide to Key Terms | Edexcel 十年级经济：词汇术语速记指南
Mastering the language of Economics is the first step towards exam success. In the Edexcel Year 10 course, you will encounter a wide range of specialist terms that describe how individuals, firms and governments make choices. This guide takes you through the most important vocabulary, broken down into logical topics, with clear definitions and real-world connections. Each term is presented in English first, followed immediately by its Chinese equivalent and explanation, exactly as you would see in a bilingual classroom. By building a strong foundation in these words now, you will be able to read questions confidently, write precise answers and earn higher marks.
掌握经济学的语言是通向考试成功的第一步。在 Edexcel 十年级的课程中，你会遇到许多描述个人、企业和政府如何做出选择的专业术语。本指南将带你梳理最重要的词汇，按逻辑主题分类，给出清晰定义并联系实际。每个术语都是先给出英文解释，紧接着提供对应的中文释义，正如你在双语课堂中所见。现在就打下扎实的词汇基础，你将能自信地阅读题目，写出准确的回答并获得更高分数。
1. Scarcity and the Basic Economic Problem | 稀缺性与基本经济问题
The fundamental economic problem is scarcity: resources are limited but human wants are infinite. This forces individuals and societies to make choices. Scarcity is not the same as a shortage — it is a permanent condition because resources like land, labour and capital are finite.
基本经济问题是稀缺性：资源有限而人的欲望无限，这迫使个人和社会做出选择。稀缺性不同于短缺——它是一种永久的状态，因为土地、劳动和资本等资源都是有限的。
The concept of opportunity cost is central to decision making. It is the next best alternative sacrificed when a choice is made. For example, if a government spends more on healthcare, the opportunity cost might be fewer new roads.
机会成本概念是决策的核心。它是指做出一种选择时所放弃的次优替代品。例如，如果政府增加医疗支出，机会成本可能就是新建道路的减少。
Economic goods are items that use scarce resources and therefore have an opportunity cost, while free goods are abundant and have no opportunity cost, like air or sunlight. Most things we consume are economic goods.
经济物品是使用稀缺资源因而有机会成本的物品，而免费物品则丰富且没有机会成本，如空气或阳光。我们消费的大多数都是经济物品。
2. Factors of Production | 生产要素
Economists classify resources into four factors of production: land, labour, capital and enterprise. Land includes all natural resources, such as minerals, forests and water. Labour is the human effort, both physical and mental, used in production.
经济学家将资源分为四种生产要素：土地、劳动、资本和企业家才能。土地包括所有自然资源，如矿产、森林和水。劳动是生产中投入的人类体力和脑力劳动。
Capital refers to man-made goods used to produce other goods and services, like machinery, factories and tools. It is important to distinguish between physical capital and financial capital; in economics, 'capital' usually means physical capital.
资本是指用于生产其他商品和服务的人造物品，如机器、工厂和工具。区分物质资本和金融资本很重要；在经济学中，“资本”通常指物质资本。
Enterprise is the willingness and ability to take risks and combine the other factors to produce goods. The entrepreneur organises production and bears the risk of failure. Rewards for each factor are rent for land, wages for labour, interest for capital and profit for enterprise.
企业家才能是愿意并能够承担风险、组织其他要素进行生产的能力。企业家组织生产并承担失败的风险。各要素的回报分别是：土地获得租金、劳动获得工资、资本获得利息、企业家才能获得利润。
3. Specialisation and the Division of Labour | 专业化与劳动分工
Specialisation occurs when individuals, firms or nations concentrate on producing a narrow range of goods or services. It allows them to become more efficient and produce more output with the same resources.
专业化是指个人、企业或国家专注于生产一小部分商品或服务。这使他们能提高效率，用相同的资源生产更多产出。
The division of labour is a form of specialisation where the production process is broken into small, repetitive tasks, each performed by a different worker. Adam Smith famously described this in a pin factory, where breaking the process into many steps increased productivity enormously.
劳动分工是专业化的一种形式，生产流程被分解为许多小的重复性任务，由不同工人完成。亚当·斯密曾著名地描述了一家制针工厂，将流程分解为多个步骤极大地提高了生产率。
Advantages of specialisation include higher output, lower average costs and improved skills. However, it can lead to worker boredom, loss of traditional crafts and over-dependence on one product. Countries that specialise too narrowly may suffer if global demand falls.
专业化的好处包括更高产出、更低平均成本和技术提升。但它可能导致工人厌倦、传统手艺流失以及过度依赖单一产品。如果全球需求下降，过度专业化的国家可能会受冲击。
4. Demand and Supply | 需求与供给
Demand is the quantity of a good or service that consumers are willing and able to buy at various prices, over a period of time. The law of demand states that, ceteris paribus, as price rises, quantity demanded falls. This inverse relationship creates a downward-sloping demand curve.
需求是指在某一时期内，消费者在不同价格水平上愿意并能够购买的商品或服务数量。需求定律指出，其他条件不变时，价格上涨，需求量下降。这种反向关系形成了向下倾斜的需求曲线。
Factors that shift the entire demand curve (as opposed to a movement along it) are summarised by the acronym PASIFIC: Population, Advertising, Substitutes (price of), Income, Fashion/tastes, Interest rates and Complements (price of). A shift to the right means more is demanded at every price.
使整个需求曲线移动的因素（而非沿曲线移动）可用缩写 PASIFIC 记忆：人口、广告、替代品价格、收入、时尚/偏好、利率和互补品价格。曲线右移意味着每个价格下需求量都增加。
Supply is the quantity that producers are willing and able to sell at various prices. The law of supply says that, ceteris paribus, higher prices encourage greater quantity supplied, producing an upward-sloping supply curve. Shifts in supply are caused by changes in costs of production, technology, taxes, subsidies, weather and the number of sellers.
供给是指在不同价格下生产者愿意并能够出售的数量。供给定律指出，其他条件不变时，价格越高，供给量越大，形成向上倾斜的供给曲线。供给的移动由生产成本、技术、税收、补贴、天气和卖家数量等因素引起。
5. Market Equilibrium and Price Mechanism | 市场均衡与价格机制
Market equilibrium occurs where demand equals supply. The equilibrium price, also called the market-clearing price, is where the plans of buyers and sellers match. At any other price, there is either excess demand (shortage) or excess supply (surplus), which will push the price back towards equilibrium.
市场均衡出现在需求等于供给之处。均衡价格，又称市场出清价格，是买卖双方计划正好匹配的地方。在任何其他价格下，要么存在超额需求（短缺），要么存在超额供给（过剩），这些都会推动价格回到均衡水平。
The price mechanism performs three key functions in a market economy. The signalling function: prices communicate information to buyers and sellers. The incentive function: higher prices encourage more production and less consumption, and vice versa. The rationing function: when resources are scarce, price rises to ensure only those willing and able to pay will obtain the good.
在市场经济中，价格机制具有三个关键功能。信号功能：价格向买卖双方传递信息。激励功能：更高的价格鼓励更多生产并减少消费，反之亦然。配给功能：当资源稀缺时，价格上涨以确保只有愿意且能够支付的人才能获得该商品。
6. Price Elasticity of Demand (PED) | 需求价格弹性
Price elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of quantity demanded to a change in price. It is calculated using the formula:
需求价格弹性衡量需求量对价格变化的反应程度。计算公式如下：
PED = (% Change in Quantity Demanded) ÷ (% Change in Price)
If PED is greater than 1, demand is elastic — consumers are sensitive to price changes. If PED is less than 1, demand is inelastic — in quantity demanded. Unitary elasticity (PED = 1) means the percentage changes are equal.
若 PED 大于 1，需求富有弹性——消费者对价格变化敏感。若 PED 小于 1，需求缺乏弹性——价格变化引起的需求量百分比变化较小。单位弹性（PED = 1）意味着百分比变化相等。
A firm can use PED to predict the effect of a price change on total revenue. If demand is elastic, a price cut raises total revenue; if inelastic, a price rise raises total revenue. Factors affecting PED include the number of substitutes, whether the good is a luxury or necessity, the proportion of income spent and time period.
企业可利用 PED 预测价格变化对总收入的影响。如果需求富有弹性，降价会增加总收入；如果缺乏弹性，提价会增加总收入。影响 PED 的因素包括替代品数量、商品是奢侈品还是必需品、开支占收入的比例以及时间长短。
7. Price Elasticity of Supply (PES) | 供给价格弹性
Price elasticity of supply measures the responsiveness of quantity supplied to a change in price. The formula is:
供给价格弹性衡量供给量对价格变化的反应程度。公式为：
PES = (% Change in Quantity Supplied) ÷ (% Change in Price)
Supply is elastic when PES > 1, meaning producers can increase output quickly and easily when the price rises. Supply is inelastic when PES < 1, meaning output is harder to adjust. The main factors affecting PES are the length of the production period, availability of stocks, spare capacity and ease of switching resources between uses.
当 PES 大于 1 时供给富有弹性，意味着价格上涨时生产者能快速轻松地增加产出。当 PES 小于 1 时供给缺乏弹性，意味着产出难以调整。影响 PES 的主要因素包括生产周期长度、库存可得性、闲置产能以及资源在不同用途间转换的难易度。
In the short run, supply is often inelastic because firms cannot easily change all inputs. In the long run, all factors can be varied, so supply becomes more elastic. Farmers, for example, cannot instantly increase wheat supply after a price spike, but over a year they can plant more.
在短期，供给常常缺乏弹性，因为企业无法轻易改变所有投入。长期中，所有要素都能调整，因此供给变得更有弹性。例如，农民在价格飙升后无法立即增加小麦供给，但经过一年他们可以扩大种植。
8. Externalities and Market Failure | 外部性与市场失灵
Market failure happens when the free market does not allocate resources efficiently, resulting in a net social loss. One major cause is externalities — costs or benefits that affect third parties not involved in the transaction.
市场失灵指自由市场未能有效配置资源，导致净社会损失。一个主要原因是外部性——影响未参与交易的第三方的成本或收益。
A negative externality is a cost suffered by third parties, such as pollution from a factory. Because the market price only reflects private costs, too much of the good is produced and consumed. The social cost exceeds the private cost, leading to overproduction.
负外部性是第三方承受的成本，例如工厂造成的污染。由于市场价格只反映私人成本，因此这种商品被过度生产和消费。社会成本大于私人成本，导致过度生产。
A positive externality is a benefit enjoyed by third parties, such as the protection from disease when others are vaccinated. Here, the social benefit exceeds the private benefit, so the free market underproduces the good. Governments may intervene by subsidising education or healthcare to correct this.
正外部性是第三方享受到的利益，例如他人接种疫苗所带来的疾病防护。此时，社会收益大于私人收益，因此自由市场生产不足。政府可能通过补贴教育或医疗服务来纠正这一问题。
9. Government Intervention | 政府干预
To correct market failure, governments use taxation, subsidies, regulation and direct provision. An indirect tax imposed on a good with negative externalities (e.g. a sugar tax) raises the cost of production, shifting the supply curve to the left, increasing price and reducing quantity towards the socially optimal level.
为纠正市场失灵，政府使用税收、补贴、监管和直接提供等手段。对具有负外部性的商品征收间接税（如糖税）会提高生产成本，使供给曲线左移，价格上涨，数量减少至接近社会最优水平。
Subsidies are payments to producers that lower their costs, shifting the supply curve to the right. They are used to encourage production of goods with positive externalities, such as renewable energy. Regulation, like banning smoking in public places, directly limits harmful behaviour.
补贴是支付给生产者以降低成本，使供给曲线右移。它们用于鼓励生产具有正外部性的商品，如可再生能源。监管，如公共场所禁烟，直接限制有害行为。
Government intervention can also cause problems such as information gaps, administrative costs and unintended consequences. A maximum price (price ceiling) set below equilibrium may create shortages, while a minimum price (price floor) above equilibrium leads to surpluses.
政府干预也可能带来问题，如信息缺口、行政成本和意外后果。低于均衡的最高限价可能导致短缺，而高于均衡的最低限价（支持价格）则会导致过剩。
10. Macroeconomics: Key Indicators | 宏观经济：关键指标
Macroeconomics studies the economy as a whole. Three main objectives are steady economic growth, low and stable inflation and low unemployment. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the total value of goods and services produced in a country in a year. Real GDP is adjusted for inflation to allow accurate comparisons over time.
宏观经济学研究整体经济。三个主要目标是稳定经济增长、低而稳定的通货膨胀和低失业率。国内生产总值（GDP）衡量一国一年内生产的商品和服务的总价值。实际 GDP 剔除了通胀因素，以便进行跨时期准确比较。
Inflation is a sustained rise in the general price level, often measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). It reduces the purchasing power of money. Deflation is a sustained fall in prices, which can be damaging as consumers delay spending.
通货膨胀是指总体价格水平的持续上升，通常用消费者价格指数（CPI）衡量。它降低了货币的购买力。通货紧缩是价格水平的持续下降，可能因消费者推迟支出而带来危害。
Unemployment refers to people who are able and willing to work but cannot find a job. The unemployment rate is a percentage of the labour force. High unemployment means wasted resources and lower incomes, so it is a key target for government policy.
失业指有能力、愿意工作却找不到工作的人。失业率是劳动力中的百分比。高失业率意味着资源浪费和收入降低，因此它是政府政策的关键目标。
11. Fiscal and Monetary Policy | 财政与货币政策
Fiscal policy involves changes in government spending and taxation to influence the economy. Expansionary fiscal policy (higher spending or lower taxes) is used to boost demand during a recession. Contractionary fiscal policy does the opposite to cool an overheating economy. The government budget can be in surplus, deficit or balanced.
财政政策涉及改变政府支出和税收以影响经济。扩张性财政政策（增加支出或减税）在经济衰退时用于刺激需求。紧缩性财政政策则相反，为过热经济降温。政府预算可能出现盈余、赤字或平衡。
Monetary policy is controlled by a central bank, like the Bank of England, mainly by adjusting the interest rate. Reducing interest rates makes borrowing cheaper and saving less attractive, stimulating spending and investment. Raising rates has the opposite effect. Quantitative easing is an unconventional tool used to inject money directly into the economy.
货币政策由中央银行（如英格兰银行）通过调整利率来控制。降低利率使借款更便宜、储蓄吸引力下降，从而刺激消费和投资。提高利率则有相反效果。量化宽松是一种直接向经济注入资金的非常规工具。
12. International Trade and Globalisation | 国际贸易与全球化
International trade allows countries to specialise and exchange goods and services. The concept of comparative advantage states that a country should produce goods where it has the lowest opportunity cost, even if another country has an absolute advantage in everything. This maximises global output.
国际贸易使各国能够专业化并进行商品和服务交换。比较优势原理指出，即使另一个国家在所有方面都有绝对优势，一国仍应生产其机会成本最低的商品。这能最大化全球产出。
Globalisation refers to the growing integration of the world's economies through trade, capital flows and technology. It brings benefits such as lower prices and greater choice but can also lead to job losses in some sectors and environmental concerns. Multinational corporations (MNCs) are firms that operate in several countries and are key drivers of globalisation.
全球化指通过贸易、资本流动和技术实现世界经济日益一体化。它带来更低价格、更多选择等好处，也可能导致某些行业失业和环境问题。跨国公司（MNCs）是在多个国家经营的公司，是全球化的关键推动者。
Published by TutorHao | Economics Revision Series | aleveler.com
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