1. Tutor2u A2 Macroeconomics Glossary
Term/Concept Glossary Description
AAA Credit Rating The best credit rating that can be given to a corporation's or a government’s bonds
(loans), effectively indicating that the risk of loan default is negligible
Absolute advantage The ability to produce a product (good or service) at a lower unit cost
Absolute poverty Those people who do not have adequate nutritional intake per day, or do not have
adequate shelter or clothing in order to survive. The World Bank reports the
number of people in countries below a $1.25 or $2 a day
Accelerator effect When planned investment is linked positively to past & expected growth of demand
Accession Countries Countries in the process of joining the European Union
Accommodatory policy A neutral policy stance in the face of an economic shock. For fiscal policy,
generally means keeping tax and government expenditure rates unchanged. For
monetary policy, generally means keeping (real) interest rates unchanged.
Adjusted net savings The true rate of savings in an economy after taking into account investments in
human capital, depletion of natural resources and damage caused by pollution
Advanced economies According to the IMF, 35 economies are ‘advanced economies’. 24 in Europe +
USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Japan and South Korea
Age dependency ratio The ratio of the nonworking population- people under 15 or over 65-to the working
population- people 15-64
Ageing population A rising average age and a growing number of people living beyond the standard
working ages
Aggregate supply shock Either an inflation shock or a shock to potential national output; adverse aggregate
supply shocks of both types reduce output and increase inflation
Aid A voluntary transfer of money and/or resources from one country to another
Aid effectiveness Quality of aid delivery and impact on poverty reduction and development
Appreciation An increase in the external value of a currency in a floating exchange rate system
Appropriate technology A technology that complements the factor endowments of the country
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations – a regional trade bloc that seeks to
become a fully-fledged single market in the next few years
Asymmetric bargaining
power
When the bargaining power in trade between one or more countries is imbalanced
– this can lead to shifts in the measured terms of trade
Austerity Economic policy aimed at reducing a government's deficit (or borrowing)
Automatic fiscal stabilisers Tax revenues that rise and government expenditure that falls as GDP rises. The
more they change with income, the bigger the stabilising effect on national income
e.g. during a recession
Bail out Financial rescue of a struggling borrower
Balanced budget fiscal
expansion
A policy to increase GDP through changing government spending and taxation
levels, whilst leaving the overall fiscal budget the same
Balanced growth Balanced growth occurs when output and the capital stock grow at the same rate
Balassa-Samuelson Effect Where countries with higher per capita real incomes have a higher real exchange
rate. A rise in productivity in the tradable goods sector will drive up wages in this
sector and the non-tradable sector and thereby lead to a rise in inflation
Basic needs Access to safe water, sufficient living space, adequate health care, and education
Beggar my Neighbour A policy that seeks to promote a country's economy at the expense of another
country. An obvious example is the use of tariff barriers.
Birth rate The number of live births in a year as % of the population or per 1,000 people.
Bond Debt issued by companies and government and traded in bond (capital) markets

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Brain drain The movement of highly skilled or professional people from their own country to
another country where they can earn more money
BRIC economies The BRIC grouping – Brazil, Russia, India and China – has become short hand for
the rise of emerging markets in the global economy
Budget deficit Known as a fiscal deficit, the annual excess of state spending over tax revenue
Capacity building Growing the capacity of businesses, organizations and communities to produce,
invest and consume – includes a broader definition of capital
Capital accumulation Using investment to build capital assets such as roads, ports, buildings
Capital deepening Development process involving a transition from traditional agriculture, which is
labour-intensive, to more capital-intensive modern manufacturing. Leads to an
increase in the capital stock per worker employed
Capital flight The rapid movement of large sums of money out of a country. Reasons include a
lack of confidence in a country's economy and/or its currency and political turmoil.
Capital flight occurs when owners of liquid assets move them to other countries
perceived as safe havens or as offering better returns. It can be legal or illegal
Capital flows Movements of capital between countries – important part of balance of payments
Capital output ratio The value of a nation’s capital stock relative to the size of GDP. Capital-output
ratios are usually around 2 or 3. Poor countries have lower capital-output ratios
because they have less capital-intensive economies.
Capital stock The total amount of physical capital available in the economy
Carbon tax Tax on the consumption or production of products which cause carbon emissions
Carbon trading Pollution control that uses the market mechanism to change relative prices and the
incentives of producers and consumers
Carry trade A strategy in which an investor borrows money at a low interest rate in order to
invest in an asset that is likely to provide a higher return.
Cash crops A crop produced for commercial revenue & profit rather than for use by the grower
Catch-up effect Countries that start off poor tend to grow more rapidly. The result is some
convergence in the standard of living as measured by per capita GDP
Chronic hunger The chronically hungry are undernourished. Their undernourishment makes it hard
to study, work or otherwise perform physical activities
CIVETS Group of high growth emerging countries comprising - Columbia – Indonesia –
Vietnam – Egypt – Turkey – South Africa
Clean float Currency that floats according to market forces, free from government intervention
Commodity exports Exports of primary commodities such as rubber, coffee, oil
Common external tariff Import tariff on a product applied equally by all countries inside a customs union
Comparative advantage Comparative advantage refers to the relative advantage that one country or
producer has over another. Countries can benefit from specializing in and
exporting the product(s) for which it has the lowest opportunity cost of supply
Competitive devaluation When a country tries to devalue its currency to increase its international
competitiveness. However, this often encourages other countries to also devalue
leading to only temporary increases in the competitiveness of exports
Concessional lending Loans given through the International Development Association. IDA provides
long-term loans at zero interest to the poorest of the developing countries.
Conditional cash transfers Attempts to cut poverty by giving cash transfers to households in need; and by
tying these transfers to certain conditions, such as sending children to school
Conditionality When donors require their partners to do something in order to receive aid.
Convergence A coming together of economic indicators i.e. a narrowing of the gap in per capita
incomes between the poorest and the richest nations of the world
Corruption The abuse of entrusted power for private gain, government failure

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Cost benefit analysis Technique to determine the feasibility of a project by quantifying costs and benefits
Countervailing tariffs Tariffs imposed by a country to counteract subsidies provided to a foreign producer
Creditor nations Those nations that have a balance of payments surplus
Creeping protectionism Where import tariffs rise + quotas and barriers to the mobility of labour and capital
Currency union A group of countries (or regions) using a common currency
Currency war Competitive devaluation of currencies, a scenario where various nations try to
devalue their currencies in an attempt to gain an advantage over each other
Current account deficit The amount by which money relating to trade, investment income and transfers
going out of a country is more than the amount coming in
Debt burden Debt that a business or country has normally expressed as a share of GDP
Debt deflation High levels of debt leading to falling asset prices
Debt forgiveness The cancelling by a creditor of a debt to a country or a company
Debt relief Cancellation, rescheduling, refinancing of a nation’s external debts
Debt rescheduling Increasing the length of time over which a loan has to be repaid
Debt servicing The repayment of interest and principle to external creditors
Debt sustainability Debt sustainability is the ability to manage debts so they do not grow and impede
economic stability and growth.
Debtor nations Those nations that have a balance of payments deficit
De-coupling Where output rises and environmental impacts fall
De-development When a range of development indicators start to worsen, linked to a depression
De-industrialization A decline in the share of national income and jobs from manufacturing industries
De-leveraging Reducing long-term debt as a % of shareholder equity, seen recently in banks
Demographic dividend The demographic dividend happens when most of a country’s population is in the
15-to-64 working-age range. This increases productivity if supported by policies
that promote health, family, labour and financial and human capital
Demographic transition Changes in population growth rates due to changes in birth and death rates
Dependency ratio Ratio of dependent population (young and the elderly) to working age population
Depreciation A fall in the external value of a currency
Deprivation Deprivation takes into account whether people have access to things essential for
a basic standard of living. These include: clean drinking water, electricity, clean
fuel for cooking, education, toilet facilities, basic transport with a bicycle, basic
communication with a radio and basic income and wealth
Development Assistance Loans, grants, and technical assistance provided to developing countries
Development Banks Development Banks which serve particular regions e.g. the African Development
Bank or European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Development diamonds 4 indicators in a country compared with its income-group average i.e. gross
primary enrolment, access to safe water, GNP per capita and life expectancy
Development Goals Targets which aim to reduce poverty, hunger, maternal and child deaths, disease,
inadequate shelter, gender inequality and environmental degradation by 2015
Disguised unemployment Hidden unemployment, where part of the labour force is either left without work or
is working in a redundant manner where worker productivity is essentially zero
Domestic remittances Money received from family or friends living in a different city of their own country
Domestic savings Savings accumulated by domestic households, businesses and government
Dual exchange rate A system where there is a fixed official exchange rate and an illegal market-
determined parallel exchange rate

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Dumping When a producer in one country exports a product to another at a price which is
below the price it charges in its home market or is below its costs of production
Ecological deficit Depleting natural assets faster than these can be replenished
Economic Freedom Index 1 Size of Government: Expenditures, Taxes, and Enterprises
2 Legal Structure and Security of Property Rights
3 Access to Sound Money
4 Freedom to Trade Internationally
5 Regulations of Credit, Labour, and Business.
Economic nationalism Protection for industries from competition e.g. through tariffs or capital controls
Economic re-balancing Altering the balance of economic activity e.g. away from debt-fuelled consumption
and imports towards a higher level of business investment and exports
Economic shocks Unpredictable outside events such as volatile prices for commodities
Economic structure The balance of output, incomes and employment drawn from different sectors –
ranging from primary (farming, fishing, mining) to secondary (manufacturing and
construction) to tertiary and quaternary (tourism, banking, software industries)
Embargo An import ban, an import quota of zero
Emerging markets Financial markets of developing countries
Environmental tax An environmental tax is a tax on a good or service or a factor input, which is
judged to be detrimental to the environment.
Euro Area Member nations of the single European currency bloc
Expenditure-reducing Measures to curb the demand for imports by cutting real income / spending power
Expenditure-switching Attempts to improve trade balance through a depreciation of the exchange rate or
through a fall in the relative prices of a country’s products against other nations
Export quota A restriction on the volume of exports that can be sold overseas – this acts as a
supply constraint in international markets
Export revenue Sales from selling goods and services overseas
External debt External debt is money owed by a government to international creditors
External demand Net change in demand for goods and services from international trade. Net trade is
positive when a country runs a trade surplus and negative with a trade deficit.
External imbalances Large scale surpluses or deficits on the balance of payments
Externalities Action of one agent affects the action of another agent. Too little or too much of the
good is produced or consumed than would be socially optimal
Fair trade Movement dedicated to raising prices and incomes for producers in lower-income
countries, also focused on linking premium prices to environmental standards
FDI Foreign direct investment - long term participation by country A into country B.
such as participation in management, joint-venture, transfers of technology
Fertility Rate The average number of children a woman will have during her lifetime
Financial inclusion The ability of a household to access credit, insurance and savings facilities
Financial sector stability The stability of institutions that are part of the financial system such as banks and
other lenders
Fiscal austerity Attempts by a government to reduce the size of a fiscal deficit over a period of
years. Fiscal austerity normally involves increases in taxation and cuts in spending
on state-provided goods and services
Fiscal multiplier The fiscal multiplier is the change in real GDP that is produced by a shift in the
fiscal stance (deficit or surplus) equivalent to 1% of GDP
Fiscal stimulus Changes in tax and government spending aimed at boosting demand and output

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Fixed exchange rate An exchange rate that is fixed against other major currencies through action by
governments or central banks
Floating exchange rate When external value of a currency depends on market forces of supply & demand
Foreign direct investment Acquisition of a controlling interest in productive operations abroad by companies
resident in the home economy. May involve creation of new productive capacity
Foreign exchange gap When a country's balance of payments on current account deficit is greater than
the value of capital inflows, a shortfall of money from engaging in overseas trade
Foreign exchange reserves The reserves of gold or foreign currencies (e.g. US dollars or Euros) typically held
by central banks on behalf of their national government
Foreign savings Foreign savings can flow into countries and provide a supplement to domestic
savings. They include overseas aid, private FDI and capital flows
Fragile states Those states where the government cannot or will not deliver core functions to the
majority of its people, including the poor
Free trade When trade is allowed to occur without any form of import restriction
GDP per capita: National income per head of population
Genuine progress indicator GPI is an attempt to measure whether a country's growth, increased production of
goods, and expanding services have actually resulted in improved well-being. GPI
advocates claim that it can more reliably measure economic progress, as it
distinguishes between worthwhile growth and uneconomic growth
Globalisation Deepening of relationships between countries of the world reflected in an
increasing level of overseas trade and investment.
Government debt Government debt is also known as public debt, national debt, sovereign debt is
money (or credit) owed by a central government to creditors within the country
(domestic, or internal debt) as well as to international creditors
Green development A pattern of development that decouples growth from heavy dependence on
resource use, carbon emissions and environmental damage, and promotes growth
through the creation of new green product markets, technologies, investments, and
changes in consumption and conservation behaviour
Gross Domestic Product: The total value of an economy's domestic output of goods and services
Gross National Income This is broadly the same as GDP except that it adds what a country earns from
overseas investments and subtracts what foreigners earn in a country and send
back home. GNI is affected for example by profits from businesses owned
overseas and also remittances sent home by migrant workers.
Gross saving rate Gross saving = GDP minus consumption by government and the private sector,
expressed as a percentage of GDP. A high gross domestic saving rate usually
indicates a country's high potential to invest in capital
Hard commodities Commodities which can be mined, such as metals, minerals and oil
Hard infrastructure Examples include power, transport, and telecommunications systems
Harrod-Domar Model An idea that aggregate output (GDP) is proportional to the stock of physical capital.
Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries Initiative
An initiative to provide debt relief to heavily indebted low income countries
HIPC Abbreviation for a highly indebted poor country
Hot Money Money that flows freely and quickly around the world looking to earn the best rate
of return. It might be invested in any asset whose value is expected to rise or
simply be placed in an account offering the best real rate of interest.
Human Assets Index (HAI) HAI includes data on (i) nutrition (percentage of the population that is
undernourished); (ii) health (child mortality rate); (iii) school enrolment (gross
secondary school enrolment rate); and (iv) literacy (adult literacy rate)

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Human capital flight When a country suffers net outward migration of skilled / younger workers which
causes their labour force to contract and may cause lower labour productivity
Human Development Index HDI captures not only the level of income but also incorporates measures of health
(life expectancy) and education (school enrolment and literacy rate).
Humanitarian Aid Emergency disaster relief, food aid, refugee relief and disaster preparedness
Hysteresis When a sustained period of low aggregate demand can lead to permanent
damage to the supply side of the economy
Import substitution Replacing imports with domestic production, perhaps using import tariffs
Inclusive growth Growth where the benefits are spread across all sections of society - broad based
growth, shared growth, and pro-poor growth
Inclusive Wealth Index Assesses changes in a country’s productive base, including produced, human, and
natural capital. By taking a more holistic approach, the IWI shows governments the
true state of their nation’s wealth and the sustainability of its growth.
Income convergence Income convergence happens when a nation’s per capita income moves closer to
that of another i.e. the gap in relative income per head decreases
Income distribution Income distribution is how income is divided up among all the citizens in a country.
The most common measure of income distribution is the Gini Coefficient.
Inequality-adjusted HDI IHDI takes into account achievements of a country on health, education and
income, and how those achievements are distributed among citizens by
“discounting” each dimension’s average value according to its level of inequality.
Infant (fledgling) industry Fledgling industry that requires government protection from overseas competition
(for instance through import tariffs) in order to develop
Inflation A persistent rise in the general price level for goods and services
Inflation expectations The rate of increase of consumer prices expected by consumers. Expectations can
influence spending and saving decisions.
Informal sector The sector of the economy, normally comprising of small businesses, which is
unregistered with the tax authorities
Infrastructure Transport links, communications networks, sewage systems, energy plants and
other facilities essential for the efficient functioning of a country and its economy
Intellectual Property (IP) Private property rights over ideas and inventions including copyrights, patents,
trademarks and industrial designs.
Internal devaluation Where a country seeks to improve competitiveness through lowering unit wage
costs and increasing productivity and not reducing the value of their exchange rate
Internal devaluation Restoring the international competitiveness of a country mainly by reducing its
labour costs rather than allowing an exchange rate depreciation / devaluation
International
competitiveness
External competitiveness is the ability to sell goods and services at competitive
prices in a foreign country
International Monetary Fund Oversees the global financial system by following the macro policies of member
countries including those with impact on exchange rates and balance of payments
Interventionist policies Government intervention in markets to affect the allocation of scarce resources
Inward oriented
development
Government policy that attempts to achieve development by stimulating domestic
industry and import substitution behind trade barriers
J Curve Effect When a trade deficit can worsen after depreciation, but get better in medium term.
Knowledge capital The scientific and technological know-how that raises productivity in business
output and the promotion of physical and natural capital
Land grab Investments in agricultural land by foreign investors
Least Developed Countries A group of countries that have been classified by the United Nations as least
developed in terms of their low gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, weak

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human assets and high degree of economic vulnerability
Lewis Turning Point Occurs when a country’s surplus labour evaporates, pushing up wages,
consumption and inflation rates. Within a country the supply of migrants from the
countryside might dry up causing urban wages to surge
Liberalisation Opening up markets and industries to greater trade and competition
Managed floating currency A floating exchange rate but subject to intervention by the monetary authorities, in
order to resist fluctuations that they consider to be undesirable
Market liberalization Removing state controls, for example, lifting price and wage controls and import
quotas or lowering taxes and import tariffs.
Marshall-Lerner Condition Predicts the circumstances in which a fall in the exchange rate improves the BoP.
A devaluation of a currency improves the BoP only if the combined (or sum of)
price elasticities of demand for imports & exports are greater than one.
Mercantilism The notion that the wealth of a nation was based on how much it could export.
Applied in the modern context to countries accumulating huge trade surpluses in
goods or services and focusing on export-led growth
Micro-credit Credit services offered to low-income individuals not traditionally serviced by the
formal banking sector
Middle income trap Occurs when a country's growth stagnates after reaching middle income levels
Money illusion When people confuse nominal and real values when making economic decisions
Moral hazard When asymmetric rewards to losses encourages risk-taking e.g. riskier behaviour
because of having insurance or the belief that losses will be bailed out
Multi-dimensional Poverty An international measure of acute poverty covering 109 developing countries
N-11 Countries with fast-growth potential - Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Philippines, Vietnam, Mexico, Korea, Turkey, Indonesia
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement - a free trade area agreement signed by
the US, Canada and Mexico
NAIRU Non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment, the rate of unemployment
consistent with a country experiencing a stable rate of cost & price inflation
National debt Total amount of debt owed by a government usually measured as % of GDP
National savings Total public and private sector saving measured as a share of GDP. Saving is the
difference between income and consumption. In countries such as China, the
national savings rate is high in contrast to developed economies. Gross national
saving measured as a percentage of GDP in 2008 for China was 54%
Natural assets Assets of the natural environment - biological assets (produced or wild), land and
water areas with their ecosystems, subsoil assets and air, see also natural capital
Natural capital The stock of natural ecosystems that yields a flow of valuable ecosystem goods or
services into the future. Natural capital may also provide services like recycling
wastes or water catchment and erosion control
Net inward migration When number of migrants coming into a country than those who leave each year
NGOs Private non-profit making bodies which are active in development work
Nominal exchange rate The price of the domestic currency in another foreign currency e.g. £1 buys $1.60
Nominal interest rate The price of borrowing money unadjusted for the effects of inflation
OECD Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development
Off-shore banking Banks based abroad in a country where you pay less tax
Output Gap Difference between actual and (estimated) potential GDP

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Outward-oriented
development
Government policy that attempts to achieve development by encouraging free
trade and the unrestricted movement of labour and capital
Overseas assets Assets such as businesses, shares, property which are owned in overseas
countries and which might generate a flow of investment income which is a credit
item on the current account of the balance of payments.
Pacific Alliance The Pacific Alliance is a trade pact between Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru
Paradox of thrift Higher saving in a recession may cause lower consumption, incomes and saving
Potential output The economy's maximum productive capacity in a physical sense. The largest
output that could be produced, given the prevailing state of technology
Potential productivity Estimates of the productivity of the labour force. Improvements in productivity have
an important effect on long run aggregate supply and trend growth
Poverty line The income level below which a person or household is deemed poor. Can also be
used to measure the % of a population living in extreme poverty
PPP Exchange Rate The rate at which the currency of one country is converted into that of another to
purchase the same amount of goods and services in each country
Prebisch-Singer Hypothesis States that the terms of trade between primary and manufactured products
deteriorate over time threatening slower economic growth for poorer countries
Primary sector An industry involved in the production of raw materials including agriculture
Property rights These are the rights to ownership of an asset such as land or ideas (intellectual
property rights)
Protectionism The use of tariff and non-tariff restrictions on imports
Public Goods Goods that are non-rival (consumption by one person does not reduce the supply
available for others) and non-excludable
Public sector Central government, local government and state-owned/nationalized industries
Purchasing Power Parity The current exchange rate is adjusted so that a basket of goods and services can
be bought for the same amount of dollars
Quantitative easing (QE) Central banks injecting extra cash into banking system through buying bonds
Quota A quota imposes a physical limit on the quantity of a good that can be imported
into a country in a given period of time.
Randomized controlled trial Studies that use one randomly selected test group and one randomly selected
control group to create a fair comparison – these can be used to evaluate the
effectiveness of a specific government intervention or project
Real exchange rate The product of the nominal exchange rate (the dollar cost of a euro, for example)
and the ratio of prices between the two countries
Real interest rate Real rate of interest = nominal rate of interest – rate of inflation E.g. if the inflation
rate is 2% and nominal interest rate is 6% then real interest rate is 4%
Rebalancing Changing the nature of economic growth and development. For example a country
might try to increase reliance on domestic demand, achieve a more equal income
distribution and introduce incentives for environmental sustainability
Recovery The term typically refers to a phase of above average growth after a downturn
Regrettables Output which might be necessary but does not add to (and might detract from) the
quality of life, e.g. expenditure on armaments and commuting
Relative poverty The relative position of some economic unit (e.g. individual, household, racial
group) compared to another economic unit. A person can be relatively poor but
not absolutely poor – it is to do with distribution of income in a country
Remittances When migrants send home part of their earnings in the form of either cash or
goods to support their families.
Rent-seeking behaviour Behaviour by producers in a market that improves the welfare of one but at the
expense of another. A feature of monopoly and oligopoly
Reserve currency A foreign currency that is held in countries' official reserves because of its global
importance as a medium of exchange and its inherent stability

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Resource efficiency Producing more goods and services but with a lower environmental footprint
Resource rent A measure of the financial return from operating in a natural resource industry – for
example in the fishing sector, it is what remains after fishing costs and subsidies
are deducted from revenue
Resource rich economies Countries with a large endowment of natural resources which are often traded with
other countries
Revealed comparative
advantage
Calculated (for example) as the share of footwear in the economy’s exports divided
by the share of footwear in global exports. The comparative advantage of a
particular economy is ‘revealed’ when this ratio is greater than 1
Rural urban migration Migration of people from rural areas to urban areas
Savings surplus Excess of aggregate savings over domestic investment, where investment is in
fixed capital and inventories by both the public and the private sectors.
SEZ Abbreviation for special economic zones used extensively in China
Social cohesion How united, trustful, cooperative and tolerant of cultural diversity society is
Social exclusion When people are denied access to opportunities considered ‘normal’ in a society
Soft commodities Commodities which can be grown, such as coffee, sugar, tea or maize
Soft infrastructure The financial system and regulation, education system, the legal framework, social
networks, values and other intangible structures in an economy
Soft loan A loan made to a country on a concessionary basis with a lower rate of interest
Sovereign debt crisis Widespread problem of high fiscal deficits and rising national debts in many
developed countries
Sovereign wealth fund A government or state run fund usually created by profits from natural resources
Special drawing rights A unit of money created by the IMF. Each member country can borrow SDRs at
favourable interest rates from the IMF's reserves when they are needed
Specialisation When individuals, regions or countries concentrate on making one or just a few
products to create a surplus to trade, linked to comparative advantage
Stability and Growth Pact EU’s fiscal rules intended to control government borrowing
Stagflation A combination of slowing economic growth and rising cost and price inflation
Structural fiscal deficit The size of a fiscal (budget) deficit adjusted to take account of the effects of
changes in the economic cycle
Structural transformation The reallocation of economic activity away from the least productive sectors of the
economy to more productive ones – e.g. movement of labour out of less productive
semi-subsistence agriculture and into the more productive sectors of
manufacturing or services, in both urban and rural areas
Subsistence farming Farming where output is for consumption of the farmer/family, not for cash sale
Sustainable budget position Extent to which a government can sustain current levels of spending and
borrowing – affected for example by the rate of interest that it must pay on new
issues of government debt
Sustainable development To leave future generations the option or capacity to be as well off as we are
Sustainable growth Growth that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet changing needs and wants. Each generation should
bequeath as large a productive base as it inherited from its predecessor
Technology spillovers Transfer of production technologies, ideas arising from trade and FDI
Terms of Trade The terms of trade (also known as the real exchange rate) is the real value of
countries exports in terms of their imports. Thus it is a function of the price levels in
the domestic and foreign country and the nominal exchange rate
Trading bloc A group of countries co-operating to liberalize trade between each other

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Transition economies Former countries of the Eastern Bloc that have been engaged in a transition from
being largely command economies to market systems with a greater role for
private enterprise and resource allocation via the price mechanism
Trend growth Long term non-inflationary increase in GDP caused by an increase in LRAS
Trickle down The process whereby the economic gains from economic growth pass down
throughout the entire society eventually giving rise to development
Unbalanced economy A common feature of most modern economies. E.g. imbalances between: (i)
savings & investment (ii) domestic & external demand (iii) public & private sectors
(iv) formal & informal economic activity (v) BoP deficits and surpluses
Under-employment When people want to work full time but find that they can only get part-time work –
the result is a loss of hours that the economy can use
Under-nourishment When food intake is chronically insufficient to meet minimum energy requirements.
Unit wage costs Wage costs per unit of output – determined by wage and productivity levels
World Bank Promotes the institutional, structural and social development, providing low interest
loans for domestic investment projects and technical assistance
World Trade Organisation Polices free trade agreements, and decides on trade disputes between countries.
It arranges trade negotiations to liberalize trade by mutually agreed reductions in
tariffs & quotas and opening domestic markets up to foreign competition