Economics

Economics

basics of economics

Contributors in Economics

Economics

Selling a security, such as a share, that you do not currently own, in the expectation that its price will fall by the time the security has to be delivered to its new owner. If the price does fall, ...

Short-termism

Economy; Economics

Doing things that make you better off in the short-run but worse off in the end. After the bursting of the stock market bubble and the failure of Enron at the start of the 2000s, much like during the ...

Signalling

Economy; Economics

A solution to one of the biggest sources of market failure: asymmetric information. Often the biggest problem facing sellers is how to convince buyers that what they are selling is as good as they ...

Simple interest

Economy; Economics

Interest calculated only on the initial amount ¬borrowed or invested. Contrast with compound interest.

Social benefits/costs

Economy; Economics

The overall impact of an economic activity on the welfare of society. Social benefits/costs are the sum of private benefits/costs arising from the activity and any externalities.

Social capital

Economy; Economics

The amount of community spirit or trust that an economy has glueing it together. The more social capital there is, the more productive the economy will be. Yet, curiously, one of the best-known books ...

Social market

Economy; Economics

The name given to the economic arrangements devised in Germany after the second world war. This blended market capitalism, strong labour protection and union influence, and a generous welfare state. ...