Definitions and Basics

    Profits, from the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics



In the News and Examples

    Mike Munger on Middlemen. Podcast at EconTalk.
    Insider Trading, from the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics
    "Insider trading" refers to transactions in a company's securities, such as stocks or options, by corporate insiders or their associates based on information originating within the firm that would, once publicly disclosed, affect the prices of such securities. Corporate insiders are individuals whose employment with the firm (as executives, directors, or sometimes rank-and-file employees) or whose privileged access to the firm's internal affairs (as large shareholders, consultants, accountants, lawyers, etc.) gives them valuable information.... Although insider trading typically yields significant profits, these transactions are still risky....
    Mike Munger on Price Gouging. Podcast at EconTalk.
    Capitalism, from the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics
    Nonetheless, by the 1820s and 1830s the growing specter of child labor and "dark Satanic mills" (poet William Blake's memorable phrase) generated vocal opposition to these unbridled examples of self-interest and the pursuit of profit. Some critics urged legislative regulation of wages and hours, compulsory education, and minimum age limits for laborers. Others offered more radical alternatives. The most vociferous were the socialists, who aimed to eradicate individualism, the name that preceded capitalism....
    Marxism, from the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics
    Marx then asked an apparently devastating question: if all goods and services in a capitalist society tend to be sold at prices (and wages) that reflect their true value (measured by labor hours), how can it be that capitalists enjoy profits--even if only in the short run? How do capitalists manage to squeeze out a residual between total revenue and total costs?...

A Little History: Primary Sources and References

    Who wins with tribal casinos? The incentive to claim a stake in the profits: Indian Givers: Politicians and Tribal Gambling Casinos, by Fred S. McChesney. Econlib, February 6, 2006.


Advanced Resources

    Profit, Loss, and Discovery. YouTube video,
    Economics professor Howie Baetjer of Towson University explains how the market process generates improvements in the human condition. In particular, he highlights how profit & loss serve to help people channel their activities in creative and socially useful directions.

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