Consumer surplus (消费者剩余)

Consumer surplus (消费者剩余 xiāo fèi zhě shèng yú) occurs when the price that consumers’ willingness to pay for a certain product or service is higher than the actual price of it.  Surplus as in surplus cash (剩余现金 shèng yú xiàn jīn).

Part 1: Breakdown of Words

• “Consumer” (消费者 xiāo fèi zhě) derives from:
  • “消” (xiāo) as in “offset” (抵消 dǐ xiāo), “wipe out” (消灭 xiāo miè), or “conume” (消耗  xiāo hào).
  • “费” (fèi) as in “tuition” (学费 xué fèi), “fee” (费用 fèi yòng), or “strenuous” (费力 fèi lì).
  • “者” (zhě) as in “journalist” (记者 jì zhě), “reader” (读者 dú zhě), or “scholar” (学者 xué zhě).
• “Surplus” as in “surplus cash” (剩余现金 shèng yú xiàn jīn), or “surplus value” (剩余价值 shèng yú jià zhí).
  • “剩” (shèng) as in “remaining” (剩下 shèng xià), or “leftover food” (剩饭 shèng fàn).
  • “余” (yú) as in “remnants” (残余 cán yú), or “remainder (after division)” (余数 yú shù).