Glossary

Economy

Bank: A place of business that lends, exchanges, takes care of, or issues money
Capital: Money used to produce more money
Capitalism: An economic system in which resources and means of production are privately owned and prices, production, and the distribution of goods are determined mainly by competition in a free market
Circulation: The passage of money from person to person or place to place
Coin: A piece of metal put out by a government authority as money
Competition: The effort to attract business by offering the most favorable terms
Consumers: A person who buys and uses up goods
Credit: An amount that a bank or company will let a person use with the promise of future repayment
Currency: Money in circulation
Debt: Something owed to another
Depression: A period of low general economic activity with widespread unemployment
Economics: A social science concerned with description and analysis of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services
Economic Institutions: Specific agencies or foundations devoted to supplying a good or service that is important to the economy of a country
Entrepreneurship: Introducing new things, finance and business acumen, in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods
Finance: Resources, like money, available to a government, person, group, or business
Global Trade: The business of buying and selling items around the world
Good: A product with value
Inflation: A continual increase in the price of goods and services
Interdependence: A relationship in which each member is economically dependent on the others
Interest: A charge for borrowed money that is generally a percentage of the amount borrowed
Invest: To lay out money to return a profit
Loan: Money lent at interest
Market Economy: A market economy is an economy in which trade occurs as a result of interactions between buyers and sellers of goods and services.
Money: Something generally accepted as a way to pay for goods and services
Money Supply: The total amount of money in circulation or in existence in a country
Panic: A financial crisis that occurs when many banks suffer runs at the same time
Philanthropist: A person with a spirit of goodwill toward all people especially when expressed in active and generous monetary efforts to help others
Profit: The gain after all the expenses are subtracted from the amount received
Recession: The period of a downward turn in business activity
Risk: The possibility that a person or company will lose money when they invest it in something, like a business or commodity
Run: When a large number of customers withdraw their deposits from a financial institution at the same time because they believe that the financial institution might become insolvent
Service: Useful and valued labor that does not produce goods
Speculation: The taking of a big risk in business in hopes of making a big profit
Teller: A bank employee who receives and pays out money
Trade: The business of buying and selling items
Wealth: A great amount of money or possessions

Government

Board of Governors: A group of officials appointed by the President of the United States and approved by the Senate to act as the chief executive group overseeing all twelve districts of the Federal Reserve System
Boycott: to join with others in refusing to deal with a person, organization, or country usually to express disapproval or to force acceptance of terms
Charter: an official document granting, guaranteeing, or showing the limits of the rights and duties of the group to which it is given
City: a place in which people live that is larger or more important than a town
Civil War: a war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country or nation
Comptroller of Currency: A U.S. federal office that serves to charter, regulate and supervise the national banks.
Congress: the chief lawmaking body of a nation and especially of a republic that in the U.S. is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives
Constitution: the basic beliefs and laws of a nation that establish the powers and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the people in it
Cooperation: the process of acting, working, or associating with others
Country: the open rural area outside of big towns and cities
Election: the process of voting to choose a person for office
Government: the institutions, laws, and customs through which a political unit exercises authority
Federalism: a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head.
Fiat: an order from someone in charge, a law or decree
Fiscal Policy: the use of government taxation and spending to influence the economy
Governor: an official appointed to act as the chief executive of a Federal Reserve Bank
Inspector: a person who examines banks closely to look for errors or instability in their finances
Intolerable: not capable of being put up with
Laissez-faire: a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs
Laws: rules of conduct or action laid down and enforced by the supreme governing authority of a community or established by custom
Monetary Policy: the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money
Platform: a declaration of the beliefs and goals of a political party or candidate
Ratification: the act of giving legal or official approval to
Reconstruction: the reorganization and reestablishment of the Confederate states in the Union after the American Civil War
Region: an area or section set apart for some purpose
Regulation: a rule or order telling how something is to be done
Revolution: a basic change in government; especially: the overthrow of one government and the substitution of another by the governed
Rural: of or relating to the country, country people or life, or agriculture
Self-Interest: The idea that a person or people do good for all by doing good for themselves
Spoils System: a practice where a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its voters as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party
Symbol: a letter, character, or sign used instead of a word or group of words
Urban: of, relating to, typical of, or being a city