foreign direct investment; includes direct capital investment in companies that have not yet issued stock. As opposed to portfolio investment (purchases of traded securities in a firm). Both FDI and portfolio investment refer to capital transfers from country to country.
by abu yahya August 04, 2008
(ACCOUNTING) the total amount of money paid to a company during the period covered by a statement. For example, during a quarterly statement of cash flow, "cash flow" means the firm received payments or realized capital gains of that much money.
During the same period, the firm may have billed out (accounts receivable) a certain amount for which it has not received payment, and received payment on account for bills it made before the quarter began.
This is not the same as operating cash flow, which is revenue minus operating expenses.
During the same period, the firm may have billed out (accounts receivable) a certain amount for which it has not received payment, and received payment on account for bills it made before the quarter began.
This is not the same as operating cash flow, which is revenue minus operating expenses.
Over the course of a few months, the cash flow for a business is about the same as revenue, as payments will generally come in at about the same rate as the firm bills customers.
This NOT true for operating cash flow or net cash flow.
This NOT true for operating cash flow or net cash flow.
by Abu Yahya September 20, 2010
(FINANCE) the widely-held belief by most traders or speculators that Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan (s.1987 to 2006) would use monetary policy to ensure that asset prices would not fall below a certain level.
A "put" here refers to the put option, a financial derivative that allows the owner the guaranteed right to sell a fixed amount of the underlying asset for a fixed strike price. A person who has a put for the assets she owns therefore is immune from the risk of those assets falling below a particular floor.
In the case of the Greenspan put, it was widely observed that Greenspan intervened in order to protect gains in asset values; this tended to guarantee that purchases of financial assets during Greenspan's tenure were very unlikely to be mistakes. This, of course, created conditions of moral hazard in the asset markets. particularly in financial stocks and in housing prices.
A "put" here refers to the put option, a financial derivative that allows the owner the guaranteed right to sell a fixed amount of the underlying asset for a fixed strike price. A person who has a put for the assets she owns therefore is immune from the risk of those assets falling below a particular floor.
In the case of the Greenspan put, it was widely observed that Greenspan intervened in order to protect gains in asset values; this tended to guarantee that purchases of financial assets during Greenspan's tenure were very unlikely to be mistakes. This, of course, created conditions of moral hazard in the asset markets. particularly in financial stocks and in housing prices.
The outcome of that (October 1994) rate cut turned out to be far worse, as the committee's actions came to be viewed as the Greenspan Put, meaning speculators could take enormous amounts of risk trusting that Greenspan would do anything to stop the market from a serious decline.
William A. Fleckenstein & Frederick Sheehan, *Greenspan's bubbles* (2008), p.61
William A. Fleckenstein & Frederick Sheehan, *Greenspan's bubbles* (2008), p.61
by Abu Yahya April 15, 2010
(ECONOMICS) Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other persons marginally attached to the labor force, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force. This includes workers who are not counted as "discouraged workers" for minor technical reasons. Therefore, if one wants to cite the percentage of discouraged unemployed, the true figure is U-5, not U-4.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly publishes six estimates of unemployment. The others are U-1, U-2, U-3, U-4, and U-6. Eurostat publishes one monthly estimate of unemployment for the European Union, which is approximately midway between U-3 and U-4.
The unemployment statistics for the USA are collected through a monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) (also known as the household survey) and an establishment survey.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly publishes six estimates of unemployment. The others are U-1, U-2, U-3, U-4, and U-6. Eurostat publishes one monthly estimate of unemployment for the European Union, which is approximately midway between U-3 and U-4.
The unemployment statistics for the USA are collected through a monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) (also known as the household survey) and an establishment survey.
For economists, U-5 and U-6 can help provide some insight into labor market movements. In particular, the spread between U-5 and U-6 can show how quickly businesses are returning to normality after a recession, because it offers a way to gauge changes in the number of hours worked as well as in the number of workers hired.
by Abu Yahya July 15, 2010
*noun*; a method of representing the economy as the sum of many identical individuals and firms, each represented by a system of mathematical equations. The Rational Expectations Hypothesis (REH) takes its name from the premise that economic actors, i.e., everyone, do not make consistent errors about the present or future behavior of markets.
REH was devised mainly as a rebuke to Keynesian economics, and in particular, the strategy of fiscal policy or monetary policy.
According to the REH, fiscal policy does not alter aggregate demand because the "average" person recognizes that her lifetime income is not increasing--so she needs to save rather than spend the stimulus money, in anticipation of higher taxes in the future.
At the same time, monetary policy does not work because it relies on lowering interest rates to make more money available; more money means inflation, but people have to be deceived into thinking prices for their product are going up, so they will expand production. According to REH, people or firms will figure this out, and see increased demand as mere inflation. Instead of increasing output and employment, they'll want to raise prices so they can meet their future bills.
According to REH, both monetary and fiscal policy rely on illusions to work; and since people (on average) will make rational estimates o the future, they will defeat these illusions.
REH was devised mainly as a rebuke to Keynesian economics, and in particular, the strategy of fiscal policy or monetary policy.
According to the REH, fiscal policy does not alter aggregate demand because the "average" person recognizes that her lifetime income is not increasing--so she needs to save rather than spend the stimulus money, in anticipation of higher taxes in the future.
At the same time, monetary policy does not work because it relies on lowering interest rates to make more money available; more money means inflation, but people have to be deceived into thinking prices for their product are going up, so they will expand production. According to REH, people or firms will figure this out, and see increased demand as mere inflation. Instead of increasing output and employment, they'll want to raise prices so they can meet their future bills.
According to REH, both monetary and fiscal policy rely on illusions to work; and since people (on average) will make rational estimates o the future, they will defeat these illusions.
The rational expectations hypothesis states that we can break the realization of a return into an expected return that depends on the current information set and an unexpected component that depends only on new information.
by Abu Yahya March 03, 2009
*noun*, efforts by the government to intentionally run a deficit in order to stimulate the economy during a recession. Loosely associated with Keynesian economics.
According to basic economic theory, recessions occur because there is a basic mismatch between aggregate demand and potential output. One approach for solving this is for the government to buy more goods and services than it has revenues to cover, thereby creating conditions in which effective demand is greater than the stock of goods currently in business inventory (given recessionary prices).
Under a stimulus, the jolt of extra money in circulation creates inflation, which has the effect of lowering real prices. Customers then respond to the {de facto} price reduction by buying more, which leads to more hiring, thence to more effective demand, thence to economic recovery.
Another reason fiscal policy stimulates the economy is that the private sector is not investing or consuming its own output. Increased taxes would simply reduce private consumption, so those cannot be increased; but spending is increased to fill the breach.
According to basic economic theory, recessions occur because there is a basic mismatch between aggregate demand and potential output. One approach for solving this is for the government to buy more goods and services than it has revenues to cover, thereby creating conditions in which effective demand is greater than the stock of goods currently in business inventory (given recessionary prices).
Under a stimulus, the jolt of extra money in circulation creates inflation, which has the effect of lowering real prices. Customers then respond to the {de facto} price reduction by buying more, which leads to more hiring, thence to more effective demand, thence to economic recovery.
Another reason fiscal policy stimulates the economy is that the private sector is not investing or consuming its own output. Increased taxes would simply reduce private consumption, so those cannot be increased; but spending is increased to fill the breach.
I think it is possible that fiscal policy will have even more 'oomph' in this situation," Christina Romer, who heads the Council of Economic Advisers, told an economics conference.
"When households and businesses are liquidity-constrained by reduced lending, any money put in their pockets is more likely to be spent," she said.
--Reuters, "White House's Romer: Stimulus may pack more punch" (3 March 2009)
"When households and businesses are liquidity-constrained by reduced lending, any money put in their pockets is more likely to be spent," she said.
--Reuters, "White House's Romer: Stimulus may pack more punch" (3 March 2009)
by Abu Yahya March 04, 2009
(ECONOMICS) An emergency in which a financial or government institution cannot meet its current obligations in an acceptable form of payment. Different from insolvency, which is where that same institution cannot be realistically expected to EVER meet its obligations.
A good example of the difference is a run on a bank, especially in the days before deposit insurance. A perfectly honest, well-run bank could have all of its books in order, and be paying its depositors in legal tender, when suddenly a panic strikes and everyone wants their deposits all at once. This is necessarily impossible, and forces the bank's officers to default on their debts.
Often, the bank could resume operation later when it was established that it held performing assets greater than deposits. More recently, liquidity crises have been a problem suffered by countries facing capital flight
A good example of the difference is a run on a bank, especially in the days before deposit insurance. A perfectly honest, well-run bank could have all of its books in order, and be paying its depositors in legal tender, when suddenly a panic strikes and everyone wants their deposits all at once. This is necessarily impossible, and forces the bank's officers to default on their debts.
Often, the bank could resume operation later when it was established that it held performing assets greater than deposits. More recently, liquidity crises have been a problem suffered by countries facing capital flight
In 1997, several countries in East Asia were stricken with a liquidity crisis. In many cases, such as Malaysia, the panicked response had nothing whatever to do with fundamentals; it was sheer herd mentality.
by Abu Yahya May 05, 2010