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DIAMOND-WATER PARADOX: The perplexing observation that water, which is more useful than diamonds, has a lower price. If price is related to utility, how can this occur? This paradox was first proposed by classical economists in the 19th century and was subsequently used as a stepping stone for developing the notion of marginal utility and the role it plays in the demand price of a good. The paradox is magically cleared up with an understanding of marginal utility and total utility. People are willing to pay a higher price for goods with greater marginal utility. As such, water which is plentiful has enormous total utility, but a low price because of a low marginal utility. Diamonds, however, have less total utility because they are less plentiful, but a high price because of a high marginal utility.
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RENT SEEKING The inclination of everyone who is alive and breathing to get as much extra income, wealth, profit, or satisfaction as they can. Rent, while technically considered the factor payment for the use of land resources, is also commonly used as a synonym for economic profit, for the acquisition of benefits above opportunity cost. Rent seeking is the entirely rational process of obtain as much "extra" as possible. In effect, rent seeking is nothing more than utility maximization. Efficiency problems can arise, however, when rent seeking is enhanced and enabled through market control, political influence, or actions of special interest groups.
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PURPLE SMARPHIN
[What's This?]
Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time flipping through the yellow pages seeking to buy either a combination CD player, clock radio, and telephone (with answering machine) or a revolving spice rack. Be on the lookout for the happiest person in the room.
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This isn't me! What am I?
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In the late 1800s and early 1900s, almost 2 million children were employed as factory workers.
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"Now is the only time there is. Make your now wow, your minutes miracles, and your days pay. Your life will have been magnificently lived and invested, and when you die you will have made a difference." -- Mark Victor Hansen
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LF
Labor Force, Laissez-Faire
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