Every scientific discipline has its own language, largely to save time when conversing with others from the same discipline. For instance, in trigonometry it’s much easier to talk about the “hypotenuse” rather than “the angle opposite the right angle in a right angle triangle” every time. In economics we use terms such as “opportunity cost” of an activity rather than “the highest-valued alternative that must be given up to engage in that activity”. A problem often arises when an “economics” term is the same as one used in general conversation but has a different meaning. For instance “investment” in economics means ... (full story)