This subdiscipline of economics studies how the economic decisions made by individuals and institutions are influenced by psychological, cognitive, emotional, cultural, and social factors. Specifically, it busies itself with looking at rational decision making - and its boundaries - in contrast to how decision making is seen in classical economics.

Game theory refers to the study of the choices actors make which produce outcomes based on their preferences. In short, it's a way of predicting how economic agents are going to act, which has real-world application, meaning the results of releasing products or competing in business can be more accurately predicted. It is assumed in game theory that actors act rationally, that is, that they act in order to maximise benefits to themselves.

Elasticity refers, in its most basic form, to how much an individual, a business, a producer or a consumer changes its demand, or amount of goods supplied, as a result of price and income fluctuation. It is a core economic concept and provides answers to some central questions, such as how much more or less a product will sell if the price is raised or lowered or how much these price changes will affect the sales of other products.

Also known as consumer choice, this term refers to the study of how and why people spend their money based on their preferences, and how they maximise the utility of their purchases while working within budget restraints. Some of the basic ideas of consumer theory state firstly that people try to make rational decisions which bring them the greatest utility; secondly, that people will always make multiple shopping trips, one not sufficing; and thirdly, that the more you use a product, the less you want it.

Having the comparative advantage (if, for example, you are a business) means that you can produce a good or service at a relatively lower cost than that of your competitors. Having the comparative advantage means you will be able to sell your goods for a lower cost than your competitors and potentially perform better.

An asset is ANY resource that produces positive economic value for its owner - its owner being its owner as a result of a past event, most likely a transaction. There are two classes of assets, tangible and intangible, which are themselves made up of subclasses. Of the tangible variety, most commonly you’ll hear about current and fixed assets. Current assets refer to things that can be consumed, exhausted or sold, such as cash, stock, and marketable securities.

Standing in contrast to macroeconomics, microeconomics looks at the choices made by economic actors - be they people, firms, or whole industries -  and how they affect the allocation of scarce resources. Primarily, this involves investigation into why goods and services assume different values and understanding how changing economic conditions can alter the decision-making of economic actors. 

Well, capital is a catch-all term that refers to a person’s assets, which means something useful a person has which can create wealth - and it can be extremely broad and be interpreted in many ways. On the face of it, capital is one of if not the most important thing in an economic system. The financing and investing of capital helps to define if and how the economy grows and also how people experience their returns on investment. To this end, capital is a good measurement of wealth, and also a means of creating wealth through the investment of capital.

Pioneered by Ragnar Frisch, Lawrence Klein and Simon Kuznets, econometrics is the application of statistical models to economic data to develop both new theories and test existing hypotheses - a division which demarcates its two main branches: theoretical and applied. Its aim is the quantitative analysis of economic phenomena; giving empirical content to economic relationships. Or in other words, analysing economic history and making forecasts.

You’ve all heard the term before, countless times no doubt. But what does it really mean? Well, the biggest clue is in the title. MACROeconomics is a branch of economics that looks at the economy as a whole, specifically, at its structure, performance, and behaviour. It does so by considering aggregate changes to phenomena like gross domestic product (GDP), inflation, price indices, national income and unemployment rates.