Which of the following lists correctly identifies the five foundations of economics?

• A. Production, consumption, distribution, exchange, and utility
• B. Microeconomics, macroeconomics, scarcity, choice, and markets
• C. Incentives, trade-offs, opportunity cost, marginal thinking, and the principle that trade creates value
• D. Scarcity, supply, demand, equilibrium, and efficiency

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that the five foundations of economics are fundamental principles that guide economic thinking and decision-making.
2. Recall that these foundations include concepts that explain how individuals and societies make choices under scarcity and how these choices affect resource allocation.
3. Identify the key principles: incentives (how people respond to rewards and penalties), trade-offs (giving up one thing to get another), opportunity cost (the value of the next best alternative forgone), marginal thinking (evaluating the additional benefits and costs of a decision), and the idea that trade creates value (gains from voluntary exchange).
4. Compare the given options to see which list contains these core principles rather than broader categories or unrelated terms.
5. Conclude that the correct list is the one that includes incentives, trade-offs, opportunity cost, marginal thinking, and the principle that trade creates value, as these are the foundational concepts in economics.