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abu yahya's definitions

social good

anything of value that a society has, whether it produced the thing or not, and whether the thing is traded commercially or not.

For example the USA has natural gas (which it did not produce), air (which it did not produce), computers (which it did produce) and personal freedom (which it did produce). Air and personal freedom are not tradeable goods; it's not possible to establish ownership rights for air or freedom.

Philosophers believe that the proper distribution of social goods is still an open question, even if the distribution of economic goods (like computers) is not.
An inequality in the basic structure must always be justified to those in the disadvantaged position. This holds whatever the primary social good and especially for liberty.

John Rawls, *A Theory of Justice*, p.201
by Abu Yahya February 14, 2009
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counterparty

(FINANCE) for a financial instrument, the person/institution who takes the opposite position. For example, in a credit default swap (CDS), the buyer is someone who needs insurance against the possibility that a borrower will default on a loan. In that case, the counterparty is whoever receives the CDS premiums, and pays out in the event of default.
The purpose of financial options is to minimize risk to the buyer; therefore, it creates potentially lucrative opportunities for the counterparty, because the counterparty takes on so much risk.
by Abu Yahya April 5, 2010
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hedge fund

(FINANCE) a limited liability partnership (LLP), originally limited to 99 partners, and organized to trade securities under specialized guidelines. The first hedge funds were organized to be a counterparty to the riskiest forms of derivative transactions: writing exotic options or swaps in which the buyer transferred most risks (and potential gains) to the hedge fund, but then offsetting the risk with different derivatives.

The first hedge funds benefited (or thought they benefited) from the Black-Scholes formula used to calculate the value of options; supposedly a hedge fund manager could design an immensely complex portfolio consisting mainly of explosively volatile instruments , whose pieces were supposed to absorb each other's risk.

Hedge funds mainly avoided the consequences of the financial meltdown they helped create, racking up gains through the '00's that far exceeded the rest of the stock market.
The hedge fund used to play a major role in absorbing and structuring the risks associated with hedging risks associated with large portfolios, but they now are sophisticated gambling enterprises.

Hedge funds supply market liquidity for the most exotic of instruments.
by Abu Yahya September 2, 2010
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trade balance

the amount of goods and services that a country exports, minus the goods and services that it imports *in a calendar year*. In 1999 Japan exported much more than it imported, so it had a trade surplus. The same year, the United States imported more than it exported, and therefore had a large trade deficit.

The trade balance is negative if a country runs a trade deficit, and positive if it runs a trade surplus.
The trade balance is an extremely important indicator of economic health for most countries. Typically (not not always) the value of the currency is strongly influenced by the trade balance also.
by Abu Yahya February 14, 2009
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bank of issue

(ECONOMICS) A bank that is empowered to issue currency. In the USA, between 1863 (National Bank Act) and 1935, any bank with a federally issued charter (i.e., a national bank) was allowed to issue currency. After 1914, few did.

The US Treasury issued a small number of banknotes until 1971.

In the UK, banknotes of the Bank of England are legal tender; but the Royal Bank of Scotland is also a bank of issue.

Today, in almost every country of the world, the sole bank of issue is the central bank of that country.
The People's Bank of China is the bank of issue for the People's Republic of China.
by Abu Yahya May 5, 2010
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Treasury securities

(FINANCE) bonds issued by the treasury of a country.

In the USA, the US Department of the Treasury serves as the underwriter for the federal government; it floats bonds and short term securities ("paper"), which is then used by central banks around the world as hot money.

Includes

--the t-bill: short term (>91 days); discounted
--the treasury note: up to 10 years; coupons
--the treasury bond: longer than 20 years; coupons
Treasury securities are the main instrument of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve System.
by Abu Yahya May 5, 2010
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pressure group

potentially any association of people with a common set of goals, who are politically active as such. However, pressure groups are usually understood to be more grassroots and issue-oriented, rather than interest-oriented (so they are not quite the same as a lobby). Hence, pressure groups are likely to include groups opposed to human rights violations and neighborhood "renewal" projects.
The London-based pressure group, Survival International, called on oil companies to immediately withdraw from Peru, describing the incident as "the Amazon's Tiananmen" and accusing security forces, who have since imposed a curfew over the region, of burying and burning corpses to hide the scale of the killing.

"Peruvian Indians are being driven to desperate measures to try to save their lands which have been stolen from them for five centuries," said the director of Survival, Stephen Corry. "This is the Amazon's Tiananmen. If it finishes the same way, it will also end Peru's international reputation."

M@RCONECTADO, "The jungle massacre: Peru's tribal chief flees country" (11 June 2009)
by Abu Yahya June 12, 2009
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