Good (economics) in the context of "Inflation"

An economic union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a common market with a customs union. The participant countries have both common policies on product regulation, freedom of movement of goods, services and the factors of production (capital and labour) as well as a common external trade policy. When an economic union involves unifying currency, it becomes an economic and monetary union.

The purposes for establishing an economic union normally include increasing economic efficiency and establishing closer political and cultural ties between the member countries.

In microeconomics, an industry is a branch of an economy that produces a closely related set of raw materials, goods, or services. For example, one might refer to the wood industry or to the insurance industry.

When evaluating a single group or company, its dominant source of revenue is typically used by industry classifications to classify it within a specific industry. For example the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) – used directly or through derived classifications for the official statistics of most countries worldwide – classifies "statistical units" by the "economic activity in which they mainly engage". Industry is then defined as "set of statistical units that are classified into the same ISIC category". However, a single business need not belong just to one industry, such as when a large business (often referred to as a conglomerate) diversifies across separate industries.

A single market, sometimes called common market or internal market, is a type of trade bloc in which most trade barriers have been removed (for goods) with some common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of the factors of production (capital and labour) and of enterprise and services. The goal is that the movement of capital, labour, goods, and services between the members is as easy as within them. The physical (borders), technical (standards) and fiscal (taxes) barriers among the member states are removed to the maximum extent possible. These barriers obstruct the freedom of movement of the four factors of production (goods, capital, services, workers).

A common market is usually referred to as the first stage towards the creation of a single market. It usually is built upon a free trade area with no tariffs for goods and relatively free movement of capital, workers and services, but not so advanced in reduction of other trade barriers.

A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale production of goods, or their maintenance, for example by tinkers. The traditional term craftsman is nowadays often replaced by artisan and by craftsperson.

Historically, the more specialized crafts with high-value products tended to concentrate in urban centers and their practitioners formed guilds.

Social inequality occurs when resources within a society are distributed unevenly, often as a result of inequitable allocation practices that create distinct unequal patterns based on socially defined categories of people. Differences in accessing social goods within society are influenced by factors like power, religion, kinship, prestige, race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, intelligence and class. Social inequality usually implies the lack of equality of outcome, but may alternatively be conceptualized as a lack of equality in access to opportunity.

Social inequality is linked to economic inequality, usually described as the basis of the unequal distribution of income or wealth. Although the disciplines of economics and sociology generally use different theoretical approaches to examine and explain economic inequality, both fields are actively involved in researching this inequality. However, social and natural resources other than purely economic resources are also unevenly distributed in most societies and may contribute to social status. Norms of allocation can also affect the distribution of rights and privileges, social power, access to public goods such as education or the judicial system, adequate housing, transportation, credit and financial services such as banking and other social goods and services.

Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In general, it is the sale of goods in bulk to anyone, either a person or an organization, other than the end consumer of that merchandise. Wholesaling involves purchasing goods in bulk, usually directly from the manufacturer or source, at a discounted rate. Retailers then sell these goods to end consumers at a higher price, generating a profit.

Traditionally, wholesalers were closer to the markets they supplied than the source from which they got the products. However, with the advent of the internet and e-procurement there is an increasing number of wholesalers located nearer to the manufacturers in China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. The profit margins of wholesalers depend largely on their ability to achieve market competitive transaction costs.

A fixed price is a price designated for a good or a service that is neither subject to bargaining nor bartering. The price may be fixed since the seller has placed it, or given that the price is managed by the authorities under price regulation. Fixed prices may also refer to swaps whereby payments are determined upon a never-ending interest rate, if not referring to negotiated price points that aren't amendable under regular situations. These also extend towards fixed-price contracts, whereas the price is not permitted to fluctuate unless there are premeditated mitigating situations; The equivalents of these, by definition, are cost-plus contracts, where the contractor-originating costs are managed, likewise with additional revenue subsidies issued.

Bargaining is very common in many parts of the world, primarily in the Middle East, Africa as well as Asia but not in most retail stores in Europe, North America, and Japan. Elsewhere, fixed prices tend to be an exception from the norm. Before the introduction of currency, both practices were the universally accepted means of transaction, at a domestic and international rate.