Balance of Payments

The record of a country's economic transactions with the rest of the world

Centrally planned capitalism

An economic system characterized by command (state) allocation of resources and private resource ownership, e.g. , Sweden.

Centrally planned socialism

An economic system characterized by command resource allocation and state resource ownership, e.g., Communist countries such as the former republics of the Soviet Union and modern-day Cuba and North Korea.

Current Account

The portion of a country's balance of payments that shows goods imports and exports and services exports and imports. The broadest measure of a country's trade gap is known as a current-account surplus or deficit.

Devaluation

A reductions in the value of a currency relative to the currencies of trading partners.

Group of Seven

Seven nations - the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain, Canada, and Italy - whose representatives meet regularly to deal with bribery and other global economic issues.

High-income country

A country with per capita income of $13,846 or higher, examples: France, Germany, United States

Least-developed country (LDC)

Terminology adopted by the United Nations to refer to the fifty countries that rank lowest in per capita GNI.

Low-income country

A country with per capita income less that or equal to $1,135. Examples: Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda.

Market Capitalism

An economic system characterized by market resource allocation and private resource ownership, e.g., Great Britain, USA

Market Socialism

An economic system characterized by limited market resource allocation within an overall environment of state resource ownership, e.g. Communist countries such as China and Vietnam that are partially embracing free markets.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

A group of 34 nations that work together to further the development of economic systems based on market capitalism and pluralistic democracy.

Revaluation

An increase in the value of a currency relative to the currencies of trading partners. The U.S. government has been pressuring China to allow its currency, the yuan, to strengthen relative to the dollar. The argument is that a weak Chinese currency contributes to the huge U.S. trade gap with China.

Trade deficit

A negative number in the current account portion of the balance of payments that the value of a country's imports exceeds the value of its exports

Trade surplus

A positive number in the current account portion of the balance of payments that the value of a country's exports exceeds the value of its imports

Upper-middle income country

A country with GNI per capita greater than or equal to $4,466 and less than or equal to $13,845. Examples: Brazil, China, South Africa.