IB Economics - Paper 2 definitions
list two responsibilities of a country's central bank
1. banker to the government 2. control of interest rates 3. control of money supply
list two components of the financial account
1. direct investment (net) 2. portfolio investment (net) 3. reserve assets (funding)
list two Millennium Development Goals
1. eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2. promote gender equality and empower women 3. reduce child mortality
two reasons why the government might wish to protect the domestic poultry indsutrcy
1. to project jobs 2. to ensure higher revenue for domestic chicken producers
multinational corporations
a company that carries out foreign direct investment in another country
customs union
a form of trade agreement where members trade freely amongst themselves and have common external trade policies with non-members
micro-credit
a loan from the government allows poor people to set up a small scale business
quota
a physical limit on the number or value of a good that can be imported into a country
price floor
a price (set by the government) above the equilibrium price
diversification
a strategy used to increase the variety of foods and services produced in order to avoid (the risks associated with( over-specialisation
deflation
a sustained decrease in the average level of prices in an economy
inflation
a sustained increase in the average (general) price level
tariff
a tax on imports
bilateral trade agreements
a trade agreement between two countries which aims to lower trade barriers, or to increase trade
preferential trade agreement
a type of economic integration that removes (or reduces) trade barriers for certain products to countries that are in the agreement
official development assistance (ODA)
aid (financial assistance) given from a government for the purposes of development and/or welfare
investment
an addition to the capital stock of the economy
appreciation
an increase in the value (price) of a currency in terms of another country
foreign direct investment
an investment by a multinational corporation or a long term investment in another country
investment
any addition to the capital stock of the economy or expenditure by firms on a capital
poverty trap
any linked combination of factors which causes poverty to be self-perpetuating with low income as the cause
sustainability
development that meets the needs of the present generation without comprising the ability of future generations to meet their needs
business confidence
expectations of businesses about the future of economic conditions and affects the level of investment
monetary policy
is a policy that is carried out by the central bank and involves changes in interest rates
infrastructure
large scale public systems (services and facilities) of a country that are necessary for economic activity
fiscal policy
policy that involves changes in government spending and taxation
consumption
spending by households (consumers) on goods and services
subsidies
sums of money given by the government to firms in order to lower their costs of production
two examples of trade protection
tariff, quota, subsidy
direct taxes
taxes (paid to the government) on income (households and firms)
negative externalities
the costs (harmful effects) suffered by a third party as a result of an economic transaction (when a good or service is produced or consumed)
economic growth
the growth in the value of real output (over time)
current account
the measure of the flow of funds from trade in goods and services (value of exports minus imports), plus the net income flows (e.g. profits, interest, wages) and net transfers of money (e.g. foreign aid, grants)
financial account
the net balance arising from flows of foreign direct investment, flows of portfolio investment or changes in reserve assets
interest rate
the price or cost of borrowed money (credit) or the reward for saving
gross domestic product
the total value of all goods and services produced in an economy (in a given time period)
exchange rate
the value (price) of one currency expressed in terms of another country
why the GNI per capita is higher than GDP per Canada
there must be a positive figure (balance) for net property income (current transfers)
main function of the IMF
to ensure the stability of the international monetary system
comparative advantage
when a country can produce a product at a lower opportunity cost than another country
fixed exchange rate
when a country's currency is fixed against the value of another currency
recession
when an economy experiences two consecutive quarters of falling output
inflationary gap
when an economy is (in equilibrium) at a level of output that is greater than the full employment level of output or above the potential ouput
privitization
when the government sells state-owned enterprises (assets) to the private sector