Economics Word Search

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trade

Traders on the Silk Road never called it that. A German geographer popularized the name in 1877.

money

On Yap, stone money can weigh four tons and rarely moves. Owners simply agree that the coin changed hands.

budget

Budget once meant a small leather bag, before the things a treasurer carried gave the word its financial meaning.

profit

Some early Dutch investors received profits in spices instead of cash, making a return something that could end up in the kitchen.

income

Britain ordered income-tax records destroyed in 1816, but duplicate copies survived, giving paperwork meant to vanish a second life in the archives.

demand

Some luxury goods become more desirable as their prices rise, an exception to the usual pattern economists call the Veblen effect.

supply

Vanilla supply depends on hand pollination in many growing regions, turning a cheap-looking flavor into a crop requiring painstaking work.

market

Old debt records used split wooden tally sticks, letting two parties match the halves instead of relying on identical written copies.

currency

Zimbabwe issued a hundred trillion dollar note in 2009. On its first day it bought about thirty US dollars.

shortage

German emergency money sometimes came in silk or porcelain, giving collectors currency made from materials usually found in clothing or dishes.

consumer

Boycott takes its name from a land agent whose neighbors refused to deal with him, naming a protest tactic after its target.

interest

In 2019, a Danish bank offered negative mortgage interest, shrinking the balance faster than payments alone, although borrowers still faced fees.

inflation

Hungary holds the record. In 1946 prices doubled about every fifteen hours, the fastest inflation ever recorded.

investment

Invest once meant clothe, so investments and vests share a clothing-related ancestor, linking a financial term with something you can wear.

competition

Eight badminton players were disqualified from the 2012 Olympics for trying to lose, when competition rules made defeat seem strategically useful.

In their words