Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Lacking elasticity; unyielding or unadaptable. synonym: stiff.
- adjective Economics Of, relating to, or being a good for which changes in price have little effect on the quantity demanded or supplied.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Not elastic; not returning after a strain; lacking elasticity.
- Incompressible; rigid; unyielding
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Not elastic.
- adjective (Economics) reacting little to changing price; -- of demand.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective lacking
elasticity ;inflexible , unyielding
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective not elastic
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The term inelastic simply refers to a good whose demand is relatively unresponsive to a change in price.
Forbes.com: News CCAP 2011
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I’m using the term inelastic to mean that, to the extent the plan is funded by the government, you cannot not pay for it.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Failing To Understand How Markets Work: 2009
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ShelbyC: I’m using the term inelastic to mean that, to the extent the plan is funded by the government, you cannot not pay for it.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Failing To Understand How Markets Work: 2009
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One of the results of the internet bubble is that certain inelastic inputs had highly inflated prices.
Getting Ricardo Wrong, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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The big category of goods dutiable at 5 % or less, on which tariffs stand to be eliminated, consists mainly of primary commodities, and the demand for such goods tends to be relatively "inelastic" - that is, unresponsive to small price changes such as would result from the removal of a 5 % or lower import tariff.
Expanding TradeThe Positive Approach to Economic Growth 1963
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Oil is a poor analog because I’m not sure a short-term inelastic product compares to any form of information.
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The problem with that logic is that much spending is actually designed to save money, or to compensate for things that economists call "inelastic" in the market.
Paul Tullis: What Obama Forgot About Change in Washington Paul Tullis 2011
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Medical services are inelastic, that is, a slight reduction in availablity pushes up prices dramatically, just like supply & demand for gasoline.
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In economic terms, demand for health care has been relatively inelastic, which is why stock-picking orthodoxy holds that stocks of insurers and drug makers are good to buy in tough times.
The Botox Bubble 2009
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But demand for many drugs is what economists call inelastic: No matter what drugs cost, people will still pay.
NPR Topics: News 2011
bilby commented on the word inelastic
"Archer was struck by something languid and inelastic in her attitude, and wondered if the deadly monotony of their lives had laid its weight on her also."
- Edith Wharton, 'The Age of Innocence'.
September 19, 2009