What term describes the situation where total revenue equals total cost?

The term that describes the situation where total revenue equals total cost is "normal profit." In an economic context, normal profit occurs when a firm's total revenue is just enough to cover all its expenses, including both explicit costs (like wages and materials) and implicit costs (such as opportunity costs).

In such a situation, the firm is not making an economic profit, which would occur when total revenue exceeds total costs, nor is it incurring a loss, where total costs surpass total revenue. Normal profit is considered the minimum level of profit needed for a company to remain competitive in the marketplace, as it indicates that a firm is earning just enough to keep its resources employed in the current business rather than moving them to an alternative that might yield higher returns.

This concept is critical for understanding how businesses operate within markets and make decisions about resource allocation. In essence, a firm achieving normal profit is operating at an efficient level where it meets costs without generating excess profit or experiencing a deficit.