In the social sciences, refers to the effectiveness with which a social benefit reaches its intended beneficiaries. When most of the cost of a particular social good is absorbed by intermediaries, such as scalpers and profiteers, distributional efficiency is low.
The state-owned auditorium hands out a fixed number of free tickets to students to promote the arts, but nearly all of them sell the tickets to scalpers for the money. It's very poor distributional efficiency.
by abu yahya June 23, 2008
Get the distributional efficiency mug.(FINANCE) the increase in wealth that goes to the owner of a financial asset when it increases in value. If you buy a share of stock, and the share increases in value, then you have capital gains whether you have sold it or not.
If you sell the stock at the higher price, you have made money on the transaction and have "realized capital gains." If you hang onto the asset in the hopes its value will increase even more, you have "unrealized capital gains."
If you sell the stock at the higher price, you have made money on the transaction and have "realized capital gains." If you hang onto the asset in the hopes its value will increase even more, you have "unrealized capital gains."
For owners of stocks, wealth can come in the form of capital gains or dividends. For owners of gold, the only benefit comes from capital gains. This is why gold is usually not a good investment.
by Abu Yahya April 15, 2010
Get the capital gains mug.(MATHEMATICS) a logarithm whose base is e (2.71828...)
The number e is a transcendental irrational, which means that it has infinitely many decimal places but cannot be expressed as a fraction.
A useful feature of the natural log function is that the derivative of (ln x) is 1/x.
The number e is a transcendental irrational, which means that it has infinitely many decimal places but cannot be expressed as a fraction.
A useful feature of the natural log function is that the derivative of (ln x) is 1/x.
by Abu Yahya May 05, 2010
Get the natural log mug.(CINEMA || TELEVISION) technique in which an actor reads lines, but is not shown speaking the lines in the video stream. So, for example, we might see Martin Sheen lying in bed in a decrepit hotel in Saigon, and hear his voice say, "Saigon... shit! I was still in Saigon!" But he's narrating in the past tense, and the Martin Sheen onscreen is not saying anything. Or we might see Robert Duvall sitting on the beach, and Martin Sheen's disembodied voice, calmly recalling, "Well, he loved his men... Felt safe with them.."
It serves to fill in events in the story that the director doesn't want to depict on screen; it helps to describe how a character feels about events shown in the scene, or remind viewers that they are currently watching a flashback; it also has been used successfully to explain away absurd holes in the plot that would otherwise ruin the movie.
The voice over (VO) is particularly popular in US cinema and somewhat less so in British and Japanese; non-US movies that are conscious imitating Hollywood cliches will usually use it as well.
Usually, artistic movies made outside the English-speaking world tend to avoid using the VO because it's a non-traditional narrative technique, and it looks lazy. A good screenwriter doesn't need to use it. However, in commercials and TV "journalism" it is almost supernaturally powerful in persuading people of utter nonsense; it's basically a form of posthypnotic suggestion.
It serves to fill in events in the story that the director doesn't want to depict on screen; it helps to describe how a character feels about events shown in the scene, or remind viewers that they are currently watching a flashback; it also has been used successfully to explain away absurd holes in the plot that would otherwise ruin the movie.
The voice over (VO) is particularly popular in US cinema and somewhat less so in British and Japanese; non-US movies that are conscious imitating Hollywood cliches will usually use it as well.
Usually, artistic movies made outside the English-speaking world tend to avoid using the VO because it's a non-traditional narrative technique, and it looks lazy. A good screenwriter doesn't need to use it. However, in commercials and TV "journalism" it is almost supernaturally powerful in persuading people of utter nonsense; it's basically a form of posthypnotic suggestion.
The propaganda effect of commercials is massively enhanced by the use of voice over narration; usually the VO script is a grammatical mess and crammed with logical errors. This actually makes it work as a tool of brainwashing, since the logic cannot be followed by the listener.
by Abu Yahya July 15, 2010
Get the voice over mug.Capital (in economics) refers to either equipment used to produce goods (tools, factory buildings, infrastructure) or money that is currently used to pay for business ventures. Capital accounts refers to the balance of investment that a country receives from, or supplies to, other countries over the course of a business period. So, for example, in the course of a year the people in country A may buy $1.5 million in shares and bonds from overseas, and sell $900,000 of the same (for net capital exports of $600K); meanwhile, foreigners might buy $1.2 million in shares, etc., while selling $800K of the same (capital imports of $400K). The country therefore exports $600K, imports $400K, and runs a net capital account balance of -$200K.
Over the short run, a capital account surplus can offset a current account deficit.
Over the short run, a capital account surplus can offset a current account deficit.
For the last 30 years the USA has run a surplus in its capital accounts, partly offsetting a gigantic deficit in current accounts.
by abu yahya September 28, 2008
Get the capital accounts mug.(ECONOMICS) adjusted for the time of year the data refer to.
Economic statistics are often reported as rates of change from month to month, or quarter to quarter. However, some months, such as November and December, have very high retail sales, while May through September have very high home sales. For this reason, data is sometimes "seasonally adjusted" to offset ordinary seasonal variations.
The US Federal Reserve System reports changes in GDP from quarter to quarter in annualized form; so, for example, during the last quarter of 2004, US GDP was (about) $3,044.6 billion. But it was reported as an annualized (and seasonally adjusted) $11734.9. If you divide that by 4 you get 2957.8, which reflects the fact that the Fed shaved 86.8 billion off its estimate of economic activity for 2004Q4 and reallocated it to Q1 & Q2.
The reason the Fed (and everyone else) does this is to measure economic change separately from the usual seasonal change in business activity.
Economic statistics are often reported as rates of change from month to month, or quarter to quarter. However, some months, such as November and December, have very high retail sales, while May through September have very high home sales. For this reason, data is sometimes "seasonally adjusted" to offset ordinary seasonal variations.
The US Federal Reserve System reports changes in GDP from quarter to quarter in annualized form; so, for example, during the last quarter of 2004, US GDP was (about) $3,044.6 billion. But it was reported as an annualized (and seasonally adjusted) $11734.9. If you divide that by 4 you get 2957.8, which reflects the fact that the Fed shaved 86.8 billion off its estimate of economic activity for 2004Q4 and reallocated it to Q1 & Q2.
The reason the Fed (and everyone else) does this is to measure economic change separately from the usual seasonal change in business activity.
BILL: Hey! This data on GDP growth is way different from that data.
ANNA: That's because one set of data is seasonally adjusted. The Fed tweaked the numbers so economic growth from quarter to quarter reflects changing economic conditions, instead of ordinary yearly cycles.
BILL: You mean it's not an evil plot?
ANNA: It's an evil plot to make you forget about Christmas shopping season and labor day white sales.
BILL: Gasp! You mean the Fed is behind the War on Christmas?????
ANNA: That's because one set of data is seasonally adjusted. The Fed tweaked the numbers so economic growth from quarter to quarter reflects changing economic conditions, instead of ordinary yearly cycles.
BILL: You mean it's not an evil plot?
ANNA: It's an evil plot to make you forget about Christmas shopping season and labor day white sales.
BILL: Gasp! You mean the Fed is behind the War on Christmas?????
by Abu Yahya September 08, 2010
Get the seasonally adjusted mug.(FINANCE) a type of financial derivative which two parties "swap," or exchange, the streams of income (or payments) from two different sources. The actual instrument is created by a third party, such as an investment bank.
The most familiar version of the swap is the interest rate swap, in which the holder of a fixed rate loan and the holder of an adjustable rate loan agree to exchange revenue streams.
The variety of swaps available is massively greater than with options or futures; essentially, swaps exist for every arbitrage opportunity that any combination of markets provides; the market for swaps is huge.
The most familiar version of the swap is the interest rate swap, in which the holder of a fixed rate loan and the holder of an adjustable rate loan agree to exchange revenue streams.
The variety of swaps available is massively greater than with options or futures; essentially, swaps exist for every arbitrage opportunity that any combination of markets provides; the market for swaps is huge.
BILL: Why do firms buy swaps? Why don't they just sell the loans they have to other banks, or whatever?
ANNA: One is that swaps are a method of hedging risk; you hold the bond in case the price goes up, but you buy interest rate swaps to protect against having average rates in your portfolio that are two high or two low.
ANNA: One is that swaps are a method of hedging risk; you hold the bond in case the price goes up, but you buy interest rate swaps to protect against having average rates in your portfolio that are two high or two low.
by Abu Yahya April 05, 2010
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