The A-Z of Economics

Table of Contents

1. The A-Z of Economics - introduction
2. Economics glossary
3. Fundamental economic concepts
   1. Economics as a social science
   2. Economics and supermodels
   3. Ceteris-paribus
   4. Positive and normative economics
   5. Are people rational?
   6. Scarcity
   7. What? How? For whom?
   8. Choice and opportunity cost
   9. Production possibility curves
   10. PlotIT - Build a production possibility curve
   11. Intervention
   12. Sustainability
   13. Economic efficiency and equity
   14. Economic growth and development
4. Key terms
5. Famous economists
6. Branches of economics
7. International Organisations
8. Games and activities
9. IB Assessment
10. Print View

Ceteris-paribus

When examining issues and developing theories, economists often make an assumption called the 'ceteris paribus' assumption. Ceteris paribus is literally the Latin for 'other things being equal'. When we make a generalistation of some sort we often want to assume that nothing else changes that will affect the outcome. For example, if the demand for a good rises, then we would expect the price to rise as well, assuming that the cost of production has not fallen as well. In this situation we say that an increase in demand will cause an increase in price ceteris paribus (all other things being equal).

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