30 terms were found starting with the letter m.
- Malnutrition
- Generally refers to an insufficient intake of energy, protein, or other nutrients to sustain normal growth and healthy activity. Sometimes also refers to a lack of one specific nutrient such as iron.
- Marasmus
- A disease of malnutrition in which a person suffers extreme emaciation due to depletion of bodily fat and protein reserves.
- Marginal Benefit
- The monetary value of the benefit associated with the consumption of one additional unit of a good or service.
- Marginal Cost
- The change in the total cost of production for some good or service caused by a one-unit increase in production.
- Marginal Private Benefit
- The monetary value of the benefit to a consumer from the consumption of one additional unit of a good or service.
- Marginal Product
- The change in total output in response to a one unit increase in the quantity of some input. For example, the marginal product of labor in wheat production is the increase in wheat output in response to a one unit increase in the amount of labor used to produce wheat.
- Marginal Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an additional dollar (or peso, Rupee, etc.) invested in some project or activity.
- Marginal Social Benefit
- The monetary value of the benefit to society at large associated with the consumption of one additional unit of a good or service.
- Marginal Social Cost
- The change in the total cost of production for some good or service plus the monetary value of the costs incurred by all other members of society associated with the production of one additional unit of that good or service.
- Market Access
- The extent to which a country permits imports. A variety of tariff and non-tariff trade barriers can be used to limit the entry of products from other countries.
- Market Economy
- An economy in which most goods and services are produced by the private sector rather than the public sector and in which prices of goods and services adjust according to the forces of supply and demand.
- Market Equilibrium
- A situation in which supply equals demand in the market for a good or service – that is, there is no excess supply or unmet demand at the going market price.
- Market Failure
- Occurs when externalities, oligopolies, oligopsonies, or some other force causes the theoretically beneficial properties of a free market equilibrium to break down. Equivalently, the failure of the market to allocate resources to the point where marginal social benefits equal marginal social costs.
- Market Price Support
- An indicator of the annual monetary value of gross transfers from consumers and taxpayers to producers arising from policy measures creating a gap between domestic market prices and international prices of a specific commodity.
- Marketed Surplus
- The difference between the quantity of an agricultural product produced by a household and the quantity consumed by that same household – in other words, the amount sold on the market. Marketed surplus tends to be very small or zero in the case of subsistence crops, and tends to account for nearly all production in the case of cash crops.
- Megatariffs
- Extremely high tariffs that effectively cut off all imports other than any minimum access amounts granted under a trade agreement. In agriculture, some well-known examples of megatariffs include EU tariffs on dairy products, US tariffs on sugar, peanuts and dairy products, Canadian tariffs on dairy products and poultry, and Japanese tariffs on wheat, peanuts and dairy products.
- Mercantilism
- A seventeenth-century political philosophy which emphasized the importance of promoting foreign trade surpluses and securing commercial advantage over rival states.
- MERCOSUR (Mercado Común del Sur)
- The Common Market of the South (Mercado Común del Sur) created by the Treaty of Asuncion signed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay in 1991. Chile and Bolivia became associate members in 1996 and 1997, respectively.
- Metric ton
- A unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms or about 2205 pounds.
- Microcredit
- The extension of small loans for income-generating projects to entrepreneurs who are too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans.
- Middle-Income Country
- A country with a medium level of per capita income compared to other countries.
- Moderate Poverty
- A situation in which a person or household lacks the resources to consume a certain minimum basket of goods consisting of food, clothing, housing and other essentials, even in the case where all resources are devoted to those essentials.
- Money Illusion
- Refers to the time lag between receiving increased money incomes and the realization that prices have all gone up, leaving consumers and firms no better off than they were before money incomes went up.
- Money Market
- The market for buying and selling short-term loanable funds such as certificates of deposit (CDs) and commercial paper. The market for long-term funds is typically referred to as the capital market.
- Monopoly
- A market for a good or service in which there is only one seller.
- Monopsony
- A market for a good or service in which there is only one buyer.
- Moral Hazard
- A situation in which the presence of insurance or some government policy weakens incentives for individuals, households or firms to behave prudently.
- Most Favored Nation (MFN) Principle
- A principle driving the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is a commitment to end discrimination in trade and to assure that any advantage granted to one trading partner must be extended to every member of the WTO.
- Multifunctionality
- A term used to indicate that agriculture can produce various non-commodity outputs in addition to food and fiber. Non-commodity outputs often mentioned in discussions about multifunctionality include landscape and open space amenities, rural economic viability, domestic food security, prevention of natural hazards, cultural heritage, and preservation of biodiversity.
- Multinational Enterprise
- A company with production or sales in at least one country besides its home country.