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The Economist Newspaper Ltd
行业: Economy; Printing & publishing
Number of terms: 15233
Number of blossaries: 1
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A megszorító intézkedés egy kormány hivatalos lépése annak érdekében, hogy csökkentse azt a pénzösszeget, amelyet az ország elkölt vagy amelyet az állampolgárok elköltenek.
Industry:Economy
Gentlemen prefer bonds, punned Andrew Mellon, an American tycoon. A bond is an interest-bearing security issued by governments, companies and some other organizations. Bonds are an alternative way for the issuer to raise capital to selling shares or taking out a bank loan. Like shares in listed companies, once they have been issued bonds may be traded on the open market. A bond's yield is the interest rate (or coupon) paid on the bond divided by the bond's market price. Bonds are regarded as a lower risk investment. Government bonds, in particular, are highly unlikely to miss their promised payments. Corporate bonds issued by blue-chip "investment grade" companies are also unlikely to default; this might not be the case with high-yield "junk" bonds issued by firms with less healthy financials. (See yield curve. )
Industry:Economy
Az a fajta kockázat, hogy egy kormány nem fizeti vissza adósságát vagy hitelét garanciája ellenére.
Industry:Economy
When a government takes ownership of a private-sector business. Nationalization was a fashionable part of the mix in countries with a mixed economy between 1945 and 1980, after which the privatization of state-owned firms became increasingly popular. The amount of public ownership in different countries has always varied considerably. Nationalization has taken place for various reasons, ranging from socialist ideology to attempts to remedy examples of market failure. The performance of nationalized firms has often, but not always, been poor compared with their private-sector counterparts. State-owned businesses often enjoy a legally protected monopoly, and the lack of competition means the firms face little pressure to be efficient. Politicians often interfere in important management decisions, making it harder to take unpopular actions on pay, factory closures and job cuts, particularly when there are strong public-sector trade unions and a union-friendly government. Politically imposed financial constraints may also force public-sector firms to underinvest. Although privatization has not been universally beneficial, on balance it has increased economic efficiency.
Industry:Economy
There are few more hotly debated topics in economics than what role the state should play in the economy. Plenty of economists provided intellectual support for state intervention during the era of big government, particularly from the 1930s to the 1980s. Keynesians argued that the state should manage the amount of demand in the economy to maintain full employment. Others advocated a command economy, in which the government would decide price levels, oversee the allocation of scarce resources and run the most important parts of the economy (the "commanding heights") or, in communist countries, the entire economy. The role of the state increased at the expense of market forces. Economists provided plenty of examples of market failure that seemed to justify this. Since the 1950s, there has been growing evidence that government intervention can also be flawed, and can often impose even greater costs on an economy than market failure. One reason is that when a government acts, it usually does so as a monopoly, with all the attendant economic inefficiencies this implies. In practice, policies of Keynesian demand management often resulted in inflation, and thus lost much of their credibility. There was growing concern that public investment was crowding out superior private investment, and that other public spending on things such as health care, education and pensions was similarly discouraging private provision. Government management of commercial enterprises was often seen to be inefficient and, starting in the 1980s, nationalization gave way to privatization. Even when the state was not directly responsible for economic activity, but instead set the rules governing private behavior, there was evidence of regulatory failure. High rates of taxation started to discourage people and companies from undertaking economic activities that would, without the tax, have been profitable; wealth creation suffered. Most economists agree that there is a need for some government role in the economy. A market economy can function only if there is an adequate legal system, and, in particular, clearly defined, enforceable property rights. The legal system is probably an example of what economists call a public good (although the existence in many countries and industries of some self-regulation shows it is not always so). Although politicians in many countries spent most of the period since 1980 talking about the need to reduce the role of the state in the economy, and in many cases introduced policies of privatization, deregulation and liberalization to help this happen, public spending has continued to increase as a share of GDP. Within the OECD, public spending accounted for a larger slice of GDP in 2002 than in 1990, which was in turn higher than in 1980. Indeed, it has risen during every decade since the start of the 20th century. One reason was that governments had to honor spending commitments on pensions and health care made by previous generations of politicians.
Industry:Economy
Spending by national and local government and some government-backed institutions. See fiscal policy, golden rule and budget.
Industry:Economy
There are seasonal patterns in many economic activities; for instance, there is less construction in winter than in summer, and spending in shops soars as Christmas approaches. To reveal underlying trends, statistics reflecting only part of the year are often adjusted to iron out seasonal variations.
Industry:Economy
A prolonged recession, but not as severe as a depression.
Industry:Economy
Jobs for all that want them. This does not mean zero unemployment because at any point in time some people do not want to work. Also, because some people are always between jobs, there will usually be some frictional unemployment. Full employment means that everyone who wants work and is willing to work at the market wage is in work. Most governments aim to achieve full employment, although nowadays they rarely try to lower unemployment below the nairu: the lowest jobless rate consistent with stable, low inflation.
Industry:Economy
Government policies intended to smooth the economic cycle, expanding demand when unemployment is high and reducing it when inflation threatens to increase. Doing this by fine tuning has mostly proved harder than Keynesian policymakers expected, and it has become unfashionable. However, the use of automatic stabilizers remains widespread. For instance, social handouts from the state usually increase during tough times, and taxes increase (fiscal drag), boosting government revenue, when the economy is growing.
Industry:Economy