Abu Yahya's definitions

Usonian

Of or related to the United States of America; term coined by Frank Lloyd Wright to refer to his new ideal for architecture. This word is preferable to "American" since there are dozens of countries in North and South America. In some Latin American countries, such as Brazil, the use of "American" to refer to US nationals is considered offensive and officially discouraged.

While Canadians and Usonians share a common heritage and close proximity, there are some subtle cultural differences.

by Abu Yahya October 16, 2008

insolvency

(ECONOMICS) crisis created when a government or firm cannot pay its obligations in any reasonable time frame. Often confused with illiquidity, which is a when an entity suffers a temporary shortage of cash.

When a firm has assets that are greater than liabilities, it is solvent. In a lot of cases, the management of a firm runs out of ways to make money with the assets it has, so it "invests" in poor quality assets with high risk of default (for example, by lending money to borrowers using inflated housing prices as collateral).

Most of the time, insolvency is the result of corrupt or feckless management. In a few cases, however, it can be the result of a vicious cycle in which a well-managed company's customers all become insolvent first.

by Abu Yahya May 5, 2010

Hobson's choice

A choice between an alternative that is awful and one that is unacceptable. Usually defined as "no choice at all," since one of the choices is likely to be totally unacceptable (death, starvation, death of a loved one held hostage, insolvency).

A person whose relatives have been taken hostage is faced with the Hobson's choice of rewarding someone who attacked his family, and having his relatives killed because of decisions he made.

by Abu Yahya May 5, 2010

monetize

to introduce a thing as currency, e.g., silver, gold, copper. In nearly all cases, when something has been monetized, it is legal tender and debtors are legally obligated to accept it as payment for debt.

Debt can also be monetized. A government can either buy the debt of companies whose growth it favors as a matter of policy (as in pre-War Japan) or permit its own bonds to be be used as banking reserves (for the creation of money).

In 1878 Congress passed the Bland Bill, which monetized silver at a ratio of 16:1 to gold.

by Abu Yahya January 23, 2009

sovereign debt

(ECONOMICS) debt owned by a national government to all creditors foreign and domestic. Backed by the national government's power to tax.

Even after the International Monetary Fund worked out a bailout for Greece, other sovereign debt crises could still arise in Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

by Abu Yahya May 5, 2010

Hispanophonic

(ADJECTIVE) Spanish-speaking; of or related to the Spanish-speaking world.

The largest Hispanophonic countries, in order of population, are

Mexico (111,211,789)

Colombia (43,677,372)

Argentina (40,913,584)

Spain (40,525,002)

USA (35,000,000?)

Peru (29,546,963)

Venezuela (26,814,843)

Chile (16,601,707)

Ecuador (14,573,101)

Guatemala (13,276,517)

Cuba (11,451,652)

Bolivia (9,775,246)

The Dominican Republic (9,650,054)

Honduras (7,833,696)

El Salvador (7,185,218)

Paraguay (6,995,655)

Nicaragua (5,891,199)

Costa Rica (4,253,877)

by Abu Yahya May 18, 2010

fiscal deficit

the gap between revenues and expenditures for a government (over a given period of time); often referred to as an internal deficit or public deficit.
The public deficit accumulates over each time period (usually a year) into what is known as the public debt.

According to Keynesian and Neo-Keynesian economic theory, fiscal deficits are usually the most effective tool for stimulating economic activity; the actual choice of how the money is spent is less important.

In the USA, most states are not allowed to run fiscal deficits. In other federal republics, such as India and Argentina, they are allowed and frequently account for much of those countries' internal deficits.

by Abu Yahya February 14, 2009