The theory that fluctuations in overall economic activity are due to real economic shock: for example, variations in the rate of technical progress. This is in contrast to more traditional theories of the trade cycle, which attribute overall fluctuations to a combination of real shocks, monetary shocks, and the inherent dynamics resulting from time lags in economic decision-making.

• safety at work
• safety net, social
• salary
• sales, retail
• sales tax
• sample
• Samuelson
• sanctions, trade
• satisficing
• saving
• savings
• savings and loan association
• savings function
• Say's law
• scale
• scarce currency clause
• scarcity
• scatter diagram
• scenario
• Schedule A tax
• scope, economies of
• screening
• scrip issue
• SDR
• SEAQ