In economic terms "comparative advantage" refers to a situation where one country can produce some goods or resources at a lower cost than another country.

Adam Smith was an Enlightenment-era economic philosopher. He is most remembered for laying down the principle of free-market economics called laissez-faire economics. His theory stated that an economy would have the best success if the government does not intervene. His ideas were widely adopted in Europe and America over the next couple of centuries and were an important foundation of the spread of capitalism around the world.

Mercantilism was an important economic theory in the first era of European colonialism, from roughly 1500 until 1800. With mercantilism, the primary goal of a nation, and a government, should be to regulate trade and the means of production in order to encourage a favorable balance of trade. Essentially, for a nation to succeed according to mercantilist theory, it needs to be exporting more than it is importing. This theory drove many of the actions taken by England and France, along with the other colonial powers, during the age of exploration and the age of colonialism.

"Scab" is used, in a demeaning fashion, to describe someone who renders the effects of a strike less effective by continuing to work during the strike or by taking the job of a striking member of a union.

Frictional unemployment is the name given to a situation whereby people quit because they are dissatisfied with their jobs.

InThe Communist Manifesto, the working class is referred to by the latin term “proletariat.” Marx argued that the “proletariat” were essentially enslaved by the bourgeoise and the upper class who controlled the means of production and thus all the wealth and property.

The Iron Law of Wages is a famous economic term that originated during the eighteenth or nineteenth Century. It is actually difficult to track who first used the terminology or who first wrote about the idea; historians sometimes credit Malthus, Ricardo, Marx, Engels and so on. The law itself is well-understood: it states that the wage of a laborer will always fall to the very minimum needed to keep the worker working. Because of the massive competition in the labor market, employers have the power to pay their workers as little as possible, because if the worker refuses those terms, someone else will simply take the job. To rephrase: the money paid to a worker will always be the very minimum needed to keep the worker alive and working.

Labor is defined as the factor of production that is directly attributable to human effort and work. Labor is distinct from capital, in that capital describes inanimate goods that are essential to production, while labor describes the human element of production. Ed, Ellen, and Michael all contribute to the production of Sally's business, but they do so through the provision of capital. Stephanie contributes her own effort and work as a laborer for Sally. Meanwhile, Allen, as a customer, isn't directly involved in the production process.

A joint stock company is a large scale business whereby shares (or stocks) are owned by numerous individuals, thereby distributing the responsibility for the company, the risk involved for the individual, and the profits that can be made. The development of the joint stock company by the Dutch, Russians, English, and French at various times in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was a very important development in economic history, providing much of the means for Europe to gain great material wealth from the age of Colonialism.

"Interdependence" is used to refer to a situation that exists between two or more countries in which they rely on one another for the exchange of raw resources, finished products, goods, and services to the mutual betterment of their respective economies.