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Supply and Demand
The basic force behind most prices. When more people want a thing, prices rise; when fewer want it, prices fall.
Example
A new game console launches with 1,000 units in your city and 5,000 people who want one on day one. Resellers list it at twice the price online. A year later, plenty of consoles are in stock and the resale price is back to normal.
How it fits in
Supply and demand is the simplest explanation for prices that exists, and the most useful starting point even for complicated markets. When a price seems wrong (much higher or lower than expected), it usually means either supply or demand is being pushed by something specific: regulation, an information gap, or a short-term shock. Naming that thing is more useful than blaming the price.
Where this is taught
Related terms
When the money you earn from saving starts earning its own money on top.
Interest paid only on the original amount, never on the interest you have already earned.
Needs are the things that keep you safe and well. Wants make life nicer. Mixing them up is what empties most budgets.