Sparks Fly

Consumption

Using goods and services to satisfy wants is known as consumption.  Goods can be supplied by the public or private sector.  Consumers use goods and services to satisfy their unlimited wants.  They must decide how to allocate or spend their limited income.  Will they purchase things and consume the income or will they save their money for later use?  These decisions are key to the health of the economy

limited resources    not enough resources to meet all the wants and needs of man.

private enterprise    system where individuals take the risk of producing goods or services to make a profit.

private goods    goods privately owned and use to benefit individual owners.

private sector    part of an economy owned by individuals and operated for personal benefit.

profit    the difference between the money received from the sale of a product and the cost of production.

public goods    goods and services available to the whole society.

This page last updated on 06/25/00.

Dr. Cynthia Sparks is the Supervisor of Social Studies for Chesapeake Public Schools.  She is also an Adjunct Faculty member for the University of Virginia, Troy State University, and Old Dominion University.