(afsc)

http://www.afsc.org/trade-matters/learn-about/glossary.htm

(amos)

http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=gls&c=dsp&k=balance+of+trade

(bos)

http://www.bos.frb.org/education/ledger/ledger06/spring/glossary.pdf

(eu)

http://ec.europa.eu/trade/gentools/gloss_en.htm

(food)

http://thefoody.com/glossary/glossaryo.html

(ft)

http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/index.htm

(gf)

http://www.greenfacts.org/glossary/def/ethical-trade.htm

(gu)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/fairtrade/0,12458,794337,00.html

(re-m)

http://www.re-modern.com/glossary.html

(us)

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1451.html

(usinfo)

http://usinfo.state.gov/ei/Archive/2003/Dec/31-527331.html

(usp)

http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/kidantipiracy02.htm

(wiki)

http://en.wikipedia.org

(wto)

http://www.wto.org/

(ww)

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1471

Absolute Advantage and Comparative Advantage

Absolute and comparative advantage are essential to understanding the workings and benefits of trade. English economist David Ricardo developed a famous example during the early 1800s, using the production of wine and cloth in England and Portugal to illustrate his point. Follow this link if you want to read his example in the original http://faculty.washington.edu/krumme/gloss/r.html#comparative If you’d prefer a shorter, contemporary example, here’s one from our colleagues at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. http:// www. dallasfed.org/fed/annual/2002/index.html (bos)

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat

The ASEAN Declaration states that the aims and purposes of the Association are

• to accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region through joint endeavors in the spirit of equality and partnership in order to strengthen the foundation for a prosperous and peaceful community of Southeast Asian nations, and
• to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter.

(from the ASEAN website)

Balance of Payments

The difference between the funds received by a country and those paid by a country for all international transactions. The international transactions include the exchange of merchandise (exports and imports), which is commonly summarized as the balance of trade, plus the exchange of services, summarized as the balance of services, as well as any gifts or transfer payments that do not involve the exchange of goods and services. The balance of payments, in effect, indicates the difference between currency coming into a country and that flowing out of the country. The balance of payments is divided into two accounts -- current account (which includes payments for imports, exports, services, and transfers) and capital account (which includes payments for physical and financial assets). (amos)

Balance of Payments Deficit

An imbalance in a nation's balance of payments in which payments made by the country exceed payments received by the country. This is also termed an unfavorable balance of payments. It's considered unfavorable because more currency is flowing out of the country than is flowing in. Such an unequal flow of currency will reduce the supply of money in the nation and subsequently cause an increase in the exchange rate relative to the currencies of other nations. This then has implications for inflation, unemployment, production, and other facets of the domestic economy. A balance of trade deficit is often the source of a balance of payments deficit, but other payments can turn a balance of trade deficit into a balance of payments surplus. (amos)

Balance of Payments Surplus

An imbalance in a nation's balance of payments in which payments made by the country are less than payments received by the country. This is also termed a favorable balance of payments. It's considered favorable because more currency is flowing into the country than is flowing out. Such an unequal flow of currency will expand the supply of money in the nation and subsequently cause a decrease in the exchange rate relative to the currencies of other nations. This then has implications for inflation, unemployment, production, and other facets of the domestic economy. A balance of trade surplus is often the source of a balance of payments surplus, but other payments can turn a balance of trade surplus into a balance of payments deficit. (amos)

Balance of Services

The difference between funds received by a country when exporting services and the funds paid for importing services. The balance of services is one part of the current accounts portion of the balance of payments, the other is major part is the balance of trade. The balance of services is very much like the merchandise balance of trade, except intangible services are being exported and imported rather than tangible goods. Like the balance of trade, the balance of services can be out of balance. A balance of services surplus results if service exports exceed imports, also termed a favorable balance of services, and a balance of services deficit exists if service imports exceed exports, analogously termed an unfavorable balance of services. (amos)

Balance of Trade

The difference between funds received by a country when exporting merchandise and the funds paid for importing merchandise. The balance of trade is a major part of the current accounts portion of the balance of payments. A balance of trade surplus results if exports exceed imports, commonly termed a favorable balance of trade, and a balance of trade deficit exists if imports exceed exports, analogously termed an unfavorable balance of trade. The "favorable" and "unfavorable" normative connotations attached to the balance of trade rests with the presumption that a nation is "better off" when it exports more than it imports, which is not necessarily true. (amos)

Berne Convention

The 1886 multinational treaty on copyright protection signed at Berne, Switzerland; officially titled The International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Prior to the 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Conference, the Berne Convention was revised in 1914, 1928, 1948, 1967, and 1971. The convention grants the moral rights of attribution and integrity, and certain exclusive economic rights to a work's translation, reproduction, performance, and adaptation. The United States became a signatory to the Berne Convention in 1989. (usinfo)

Bilateral Trade Agreement

A trade agreement between a small group of countries - this term should indicate a trade agreement between just two countries, but it gets loosely used in trade agreements with five or more countries. (afsc)

Cash Crops

Crops such as coffee or cut flowers grown specifically for export. (afsc)

Codes of Conduct

Represent voluntary guidelines for treatment of workers and business behavior. In some cases the acceptance of inspections by independent agencies is a key factor of the guidelines. (afsc)

Comparative Advantage

A component of free market theory that states that if each nation made just those things which it could produce cheaper relative to a foreign country and then trade with other nations to get that which they could produce relatively cheaper, wealth would expand and everyone would benefit. (afsc)

(see also Absolute Advantage )

Conditionality

Countries must adopt specified economic policies as a condition for receiving a loan from multilateral financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank. One example of conditionality is Structural Adjustment Programs which include stringent austerity measures that in many cases have had devastating effects on struggling economies. (afsc)

Co-op

Short for Co-operative. Worker cooperatives are owned and democratically controlled by its workers. Since the co-op is worker-owned and membership is not compulsory, this type of manufacturing set-up avoids exploitation of its workers. (re-m)

Copyright

A bundle of exclusive rights conferred by a government on the creator of original literary or artistic works such as books, articles, drawings, photographs, musical compositions, recordings, films, and computer programs. International in scope, copyright grants the creator reproduction, derivation, distribution, performance, and display rights. The Berne Convention mandates that the period of copyright protection cover the life of the author plus 50 years. Current U.S. copyright law is based on the Copyright Act of 1976 and its amendments. (usinfo)

Copyrights protect an author's particular way or form of expression. They do not protect ideas, systems or factual information conveyed in the work (usp)

Cottage Industry

An industry in which the creation and services of products is home based and not factory based. The products produced are often independent, and one of a kind and not mass produced. (re-m)

Counterfeit

Works or goods that appear to be the same as or produced by the legitimate owner of an intellectual property. The effects of this can include dilution of a trademark, undermining the legitimate owner's business (usp)

Current Account

One of two parts of a nation's balance of payments (the other is capital account). It is a record of all trade, exports and imports, between a nation and the rest of the world. The current account is separated into merchandise, services, and what's called unilateral transfers. The merchandise part is nothing other than the well-known balance of trade. There's also a lesser known balance of services -- the difference between services imported and exported. (amos)

Deficit

A budget deficit occurs when an entity (often a government) spends more money than it takes in. The opposite is a budget surplus. (wiki)

Demand

The willingness and ability to buy a range of quantities of a good at a range of prices, during a given time period. Demand is one half of the market exchange process; the other is supply. This demand side of the market draws inspiration from the unlimited wants and needs dimension of the scarcity problem. People desire the goods and services that satisfy our wants and needs. This is the ultimate source of demand.

Digital Rights

Property rights of digital media formats (usp)

Dilution

Incorporating another's trademark or other intellectual property into your work without permission or in such a way that it creates an association of the original mark or property with your endeavor or with a negative experience or situation, thus harming the true owner's business. Dilution can reduce the available market for the legitimate owner of the intellectual property. (usp)

DMCA

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (usp)

Domain Names

The names and words that companies designate for their registered Internet Web site addresses, such as the "Forbes" name in the URL http://www.forbes.com. Trademark disputes arise when more than one company tries to use the same domain name, or one company appropriates another company's brand or product name for its URL. (usinfo)

Duty

In economics, a duty is a kind of tax, often associated with customs, a payment due to the revenue of a state, levied by force of law. Properly, a duty differs from a tax in being levied on specific commodities, financial transactions, estates, etc., and not on individuals; thus it is right to talk of import duties, excise duties, death or succession duties, etc., but not of income tax as being levied on a person in proportion to his income. (wiki)

Duty Free

Duty-free is the term that is often used to describe goods bought at ports and airports that do not attract the usual government taxes and customs duties.

Some countries impose allowances in order to restrict the number of Duty-free items that one person can import into the country. These restrictions often apply to tobacco, wine, spirits, eau de toilette, gifts and souvenirs.

But in some entities, such as Hong Kong, "duty free" becomes meaningless as they do not impose any sales tax or custom duty on any goods except tobacco and alcohol. (wiki)

Eco-friendly

An alternative to goods usually bought in most stores. These products are made with ecology and the environment in mind. (re-m)

Electronic Copyright Management Systems

Digital technology that controls access to electronic information, in order to protect the intellectual property rights of content owners. A variety of electronic copyright management systems are being developed, including marking technologies -- watermarking, finger printing, and data hiding -- that ensure the user's legal authorization, serial copy management systems embedded in digital recorders that determine whether a digital audio tape is copyright protected, and new secure marketing and distribution strategies. (usinfo)

Essential Services 

Services that have been viewed to be necessary to a basic standard of living and the general welfare of society, and therefore have traditionally been supplied publicly in order to ensure the broadest level of access for citizens.   These services may include water, sanitation, education, electricity, and healthcare. (afsc)

Ethical trade

Ethical trade refers to the trade in goods produced under conditions that are socially, environmentally, and economically responsible - sustainable producer livelihoods, prohibition of forced or child labor, fair wages for workers, fair trade, promotion of biodiversity, environmental conservation, etc. (gf)

Exchange Rate

The price of one nation's currency in terms of another nation's currency. This is often called the foreign exchange rate in that it is the price determined in the foreign exchange market when people buy and sell foreign exchange. The exchange rate is specified as the amount of one currency that can be traded per unit of another. (amos)

Fair Trade

These companies negotiate directly with the growers or producers of products to establish a fair price for the product. In commodities such as coffee, organizations have committed to paying a price and following procedures, which meet needs of the small growers even when the world market is below that price. (afsc)

Fair trade and free trade are not one and the same. On a general level, “fair trade” describes the ongoing effort to ensure that any two trading partners—no matter if they’re big, small, or somewhere in the middle—are on an equal footing. (ft)

Given the economics of global trade, the individuals who actually make the products we buy—from farmers in Colombia who grow coffee to seamstresses in Malaysia who sew t-shirts—often receive only a tiny share of the final price paid for that product. Consider a cup of coffee. Of the $3 that an American might pay for a grand latte at a local coffee shop, the farmer who grows that coffee may receive pennies for the beans that went into the coffee.(ww)

Example: If a country’s aircraft industry receives a large government subsidy, it might have an unfair advantage over the unsubsidized aircraft industry in another country. In a more specific sense, fair trade refers to an organized effort aimed at helping producers in developing countries gain access to world markets and receive an equitable price for their products. Some of the most common fair trade items are coffee, tea, cocoa, and fresh fruit. (gu) (bos)

Fair trade arrangements guarantee that the price producers ultimately receive for their commodities is a certain percentage higher than the price on the world market. This “fair” price not only covers their production costs and assures a decent living, but also carries a range of other social and environmental standards, from the right to organize in unions to certain basic safety requirements. (ww)

A social movement that promotes standards for international labor and gives workers a sense of economic self sufficiency through fair wages and good employment opportunities to economically disadvantaged populations. (re-m)

Fair Use

Codified in the 1976 U.S. Copyright Law and frequently used by scholars, journalists, and librarians, the fair use provision permits the limited use of copyrighted scientific and artistic material to supplement or briefly illustrate oral or written commentary, literary or artistic criticism, or teaching materials. In determining that a use is fair, four factors must be considered: (1) the purpose and character of the use -- whether it is commercial or nonprofit;(2) the nature of the copyrighted material; (3) the amount of the total work used; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market -- whether or not the author is deprived of sales. (usinfo)

Limited circumstances under which it may be allowable to reference or sample works without seeking an express release from a copyright holder. The circumstances under which fair use may apply include criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Four tests are involved: purpose and character of use, nature of copyrighted work, amount and substantiality of portion used, effect of use on potential market for copyrighted work. (usp)

Free Trade

A term based on a theory in economics, but in reality the practice is something quite different. The theory of free trade contends that everyone in the world will be better off if each nation eliminates tariffs and other barriers to the flow of products across borders. The practice of "free trade" departs from theory by including the export of money either for investment purposes or speculation. With firms able to move both money and products around the world, the benefits of lower prices and higher wages have not been enjoyed by most people. In addition, under recent "free trade" agreements, the concept of barriers to trade has been expanded to include domestic regulations, public health and human rights measures, and environmental protection laws which inhibit business activity. (afsc)

“Free trade is the untaxed flow of goods and services between countries.” (wiki) Clear and concise, this single sentence from the Wikipedia web site defines free trade in its purest form—the ideal rather than the reality. But it’s an ideal that seems more attainable now than at any time in recent memory. Although restrictions and tariffs haven’t disappeared completely, many nations are moving in the direction of freer trade, making agreements that eliminate or drastically reduce trade barriers. (bos)

Free Trade Agreements (FTA)

The liberalization of trade in goods and services on a reciprocal basis with a view to removing tariffs and import quotas for goods and nationality and market access restrictions for services. (eu)

A free trade area is a term used for a group of states that have reduced or eliminated trade barriers between themselves, but who maintain their own individual tariffs as to other states. (afsc)

Globalization

The term frequently used to identify a trend toward increased flow of goods, services, money, and ideas across national borders and the subsequent integration of the global economy. However, the term is also used to refer to a deliberate project led by powerful institutions, people, and countries like the United States to apply a single template of economic strategy and policy-"market fundamentalism"-to all countries and all situations. (afsc)

Government Procurement Policies

Rules utilized by governments for purchasing of goods and services. Such rules are often used as a way to promote important public policy goals such as consumer protection, economic development, environmental protection, public health, and gender and racial equality. (afsc)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP)

The total value of goods and service produced within a territory within a given amount of time, usually annually unless otherwise specified. GDP differs from Gross National Product (GNP) in that the latter includes international income transfers. Thus GDP is the measure of what’s produced within a territory rather than what is received by a territory. Nominal GDP refers to the money spent on GDP while “real” GDP has been adjusted for inflation. Per capita GDP (total GDP divided by population) is a popular measure of national standards of living because GDP is measured consistently and frequently on an international basis. However, GDP is really a measure of economic activity within a country rather than the standard of living, and does not directly measure income distribution, access to housing, healthcare, education, and other important contributors to quality of life.  (afsc)

Guest Worker Programs

A type of immigration policy that grants foreign workers temporary immigrant status so they may enter the country for the purpose of working.  The defining feature of a guest worker program is that the immigrant’s legal status, or visa, is contingent on employment with a specific employer, or tied to a specific contract.  The inability to change jobs without loosing legal status gives a great deal of power to the employer, and in practice has lead to extensive abuse of guest workers and violation of their labor rights as well as the terms of their contracts.  The Bracero (Spanish for manual laborer) Program between the U.S. and Mexico from 1942-1964 is probably the most well known U.S. guest-worker program and infamous for the abuse of braceros that occurred under program. These programs may also be called Temporary Labor Schemes of Contract Labor Programs. (afsc)

Handmade

Usually a one of a kind, hand-crafted product that is made without the use of machines and is not mass produced. The cost of handmade goods are often higher than machine-made versions if artisans are paid a fair wage and have pride in their craft. (re-m)

ILO - The International Labor Organization

The International Labor Organization, founded in 1919, is a Specialized Agency that forms part of the United Nations system. Each country's delegation to the ILO includes two government, one labor, and one business representative. The ILO has developed international conventions on labor practices and called upon states to ratify and adopt these labor standards. (afsc)

Illegal immigration

Refers to immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. Under this definition, an illegal immigrant is a foreigner who either has illegally crossed an international political border, be it by land, sea, or air, or a foreigner who has entered a country legally but then overstays his/her Visa in order to live and/or work therein. In politics, the term may imply a larger set of social issues and time constraints with disputed consequences in areas such as economy, social welfare, education, health care, slavery, prostitution, crime, legal protections, voting rights, public services, and human rights. Illegal emigration would be leaving a country in a manner that violates the laws of the country being exited. (wiki)

Infringement

The use of a work or a part of a work without permission, or the improper use of another's trademark or a confusingly similar mark that creates the appearance of an affiliation with or actually being the other product or service. (usp)

IMF – International Monetary Fund

An organization of governments set up at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 to stabilize currency exchange rates among trading countries. In 1971 the IMF began providing emergency loans to countries in debt to foreign creditors if they satisfied conditions, called Structural Adjustment Policies, for restructuring their economies The IMF voting system is weighted in proportion to the amount invested which means it is controlled by the major industrial powers. (afsc)

Intellectual Property

Creative ideas and expressions of the human mind that possess commercial value and receive the legal protection of a property right. The major legal mechanisms for protecting intellectual property rights are copyrights, patents, and trademarks. Intellectual property rights enable owners to select who may access and use their property, and to protect it from unauthorized use. (usinfo)

Intellectual Property Rights

The right to control and derive the benefits from writing (copyright), inventions (patents), processes (trade secrets) and identifiers (trademarks). (afsc)

Interventionism

Economic interventionism is a common term used to describe any activity, beyond the basic regulation of fraud and enforcement of contracts, undertaken by a government in an effort to affect a country's economy. Economic intervention can be aimed at a variety of political objectives, such as increasing economic growth, increasing employment, raising wages, raising or reducing prices, promoting equality, or addressing market failures.

Economic interventionism is generally a feature of governments run by social democratic and progressive parties, which believe that certain market outcomes are undesirable and ought to be mitigated. (wiki)

Market Fundamentalism

A strategy to apply strict market principles-free trade, privatization, and reduced government regulation-to all countries and all situations. (afsc)

Millennium Development Goals - MDG

The Millennium Development Goals were adopted unanimously by the Millennium Summit of the UN General Assembly in 2000. The MDG goals are intended to promote human development in order to improve living conditions and address key global imbalances in poverty, hunger and disease. (afsc)

Most Favored Nation Status

The highest diplomatic status that one nation can bestow on another; it requires the granting nation to extend to the most favored nation all those privileges that have been or may be granted to any third nation. Often contained in trade treaties. (us)

Multinational Corporation

(See transnational corporation )

NAFTA

The North American Free Trade Agreement, between Canada, Mexico, and the United States, went into effect in 1994 and created the largest free trade zone in the world. NAFTA promised to increase the competitiveness of the region in relation to the rest of the world and increase jobs and prosperity in all three nations, but the evidence points to the contrary. (afsc)

Neoliberalism

A view of the world based on the belief that the optimal economic system is achieved by giving free reign to market participants, privatization, minimal restrictions on international trade, and the shrinking of government intervention in the economy. Critics argue that neoliberal policies prioritize corporate profits over the welfare of the working majority and society at large. See also Washington Consensus (afsc)

Net Agriculture Importer

When a country imports more agricultural goods than it exports it is a net agriculture importer. This can weaken food security as these countries have increased dependence on foreign countries for meeting their food needs. (afsc)

Non-reciprocal Preferential Market Access

This term refers to development policies under which wealthy countries exclude developing and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) from tariffs (or provide reduced tariffs) or quotas while recipient countries are not compelled to provide similar market access to wealthy countries. Non-reciprocal preferences are threatened by Most Favored Nation based trade liberalization used under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations, and are being phased-out around the world. (afsc)

Off-shoring and Outsourcing

Outsourcing involves the transfer of the management and/or day-to-day execution of an entire business function to an external service provider. The client organization and the supplier enter into a contractual agreement that defines the transferred services. Under the agreement the supplier acquires the means of production in the form of a transfer of people, assets and other resources from the client. The client agrees to procure the services from the supplier for the term of the contract. Business segments typically outsourced include information technology, human resources, facilities and real estate management, and accounting. Many companies also outsource customer support and call center functions like telemarketing, customer services, market research, manufacturing and engineering.

Outsourcing and off shoring are used interchangeably in public discourse despite important technical differences. Outsourcing involves contracting with a supplier, which may or may not involve some degree of off-shoring. Off-shoring is the transfer of an organizational function to another country, regardless of whether the work is outsourced or stays within the same corporation

With increasing globalization of outsourcing companies, the distinction between outsourcing and off-shoring will become less clear over time. This is evident in the increasing presence of Indian outsourcing companies in the US and UK. (wiki)

Organic

Food produced without artificial or chemical fertilizers or pesticides (food)

Organized Piracy

Criminal networks that copy, distribute and undermine the market of legitimate products. (usp)

Outsourcing

See Off-shoring

Patent

A legal grant issued by a government permitting an inventor to exclude others from making, using, or selling a claimed invention during the patent's term. The TRIPS Agreement mandates that the term for patent applications filed after June7, 1995, runs 20 years from the filing date. To receive patent protection, an invention must display patentable subject matter(a process, machine, article of manufacture), originality, novelty, non-obviousness, and utility. Current U.S. law is based on the 1952 Patent Code. As a signatory to the 1883 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the United States belongs to the premier international patent treaty organization, the Paris Union. (usinfo)

A property right granted to an inventor “to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States” for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted.

Patents are broken into three major categories:

• design (protect new, original, and ornamental designs for articles of manufacture),
• utility (protect useful processes, machines, articles of manufacture, and compositions of matter) or
• plant (protect invented or discovered, asexually reproduced plant varieties). (usp)

Piracy

Copying or distributing protected works or products without the permission of the true owner/author of an intellectual property. (usp)

Pirate and Pirated Materials

A “pirate” is someone who robs at sea or plunders the land from the sea without having a commission from any sovereign nation. But it can also mean someone who uses another person’s words or ideas as if they were his own ( plagiarize ). And a third meaning is to copy published materials illegally. So Books, DVDs, CDs and the like that have been illegally copied are pirated materials (without the permission of the author, creator, producer, or the performer who holds the copyright )

Patent Cooperation Treaty

A multilateral treaty among more than 50 nations that is designed to simplify the process ofan applicant's seeking a patent on the same invention in more than one nation. Administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization and effective since 1978, the Patent Cooperation Treaty enables an inventor to file a single international application in addition to the main patent application filed in a treaty-member country. (usinfo)

Plagiarism

The act of copying any portion of another's work and representing it as your own, regardless of whether or not the work is copyrighted or in the public domain. It is unethical to do so, and if a copyrighted work is involved it can also be an infringement of property rights. There are many style guides available that provide instructions for properly crediting and referencing other's works when incorporated into your own. A word of caution -- simply reworking the text when the concept is clearly lifted from another's work can still be plagiarism. (usp)

Privatization

The process of private, for-profit businesses taking over the provision of public services. Types of government contracts that have been privatized include prisons, water utilities, trash collection, clerical jobs, food service, information system jobs, and job placement for welfare recipients. (afsc)

Protectionism

The economic policy of restraining trade between nations, through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, a variety of restrictive government regulations designed to discourage imports, and anti-dumping laws in an attempt to protect domestic industries in a particular nation from foreign take-over or competition. This is closely aligned with anti-globalization, and contrasts with free trade, where no artificial barriers to entry are instituted.

The term is mostly used in the context of economics, where protectionism refers to policies or doctrines which "protect" businesses and living wages by restricting or regulating trade between foreign nations:

• Subsidies - To protect existing businesses from risk associated with change, such as costs of labor, materials, etc.
• Protective Tariffs - to increase the price of a foreign competitor's goods ( Including restrictive quotas, and anti-dumping measures.) on par or higher than domestic prices.
• Quotas - to prevent dumping of cheaper foreign goods that would overwhelm the market.
• Tax cuts - Alleviation of the burdens of social and business costs.
• Intervention - The use of state power to bolster an economic entity.
• Trade restriction
• Exchange Rate (wiki)

Public Domain

Works that are freely available for commercial or public use without restriction - not protected by copyright restrictions. (usp)

Public Goods

In economic terms a public good means consumption by one party does not prohibit the consumption by others, once created it is very difficult to exclude people from consuming the good, and by the same token produces large benefits for those who don’t cover the costs of providing the good. Commonly used examples of public goods include peace, the eradication of a disease, national security, lighthouses, traffic lights, law enforcement, water services, and education.   (afsc)

Quota

A limit on the quantity of some sort of activity. Two of the more noted quotas are for employment and imports. Employment quotas have been used as a means of providing increased opportunities to blacks, Hispanics, women, and other groups that have been historically subject to discrimination. Such quotas, however, tend to anger other groups, especially white males, who don't get favorable treatment. While employment or similar anti-discrimination quota systems might help address historical problems, they are not without cost. In particular, our economy's efficiency is likely to suffer if a less qualified member of an ethnic group is selected over someone who is more qualified. Import quotas have similar problems. They are one form of trade barriers that's usually intended to reduce the competition faced by a domestic producer. (amos)

Race to the Bottom

The constant search for cheaper wages, lower taxes and weaker environmental and other regulations, produces a downward spiral in socio-economic conditions in the United States and in countries around the world. For example, jobs moved from Detroit to Mexico in pursuit of lower wages, and now jobs are being moved from Mexico to China. (afsc)

Related Rights

Also known as neighboring rights. Generally included under the umbrella of copyright in the United States, these are a bundle of exclusive rights provided to performers and producers of a sound recording or audio-visual work. (usinfo)

Sanction

A punitive mechanism used. to encourage a country to adopt or revise its policies. Trade sanctions might include increases in tariffs. (afsc)

Sovereignty

The principle that the state exercises absolute power over its territory, system of government, and population. Accordingly, the internal authority of the state supersedes that of all other bodies. (afsc)

Special and Differential Treatment

An integral principle of the multilateral trading system based on the argument that a uniform set of trade rules and obligations among vastly divergent economies does not serve the best interest of all parties. Special and Differential policies typically take the form of less extensive liberalization or longer transition periods for the implementation of commitments for developing countries compared to industrial countries. (afsc)

Stability

Limiting macroeconomic fluctuations in prices, employment, and production. This is one of the five economic goals, specifically one of the three macro goals (the other two are economic growth and full employment). One primary focus of this stability goal is to keep inflation in check. High or unpredictable inflation rates can cause uncertainty and haphazardly redistribute income and wealth.

Streaming

A technology that permits "live" or scheduled on-line distribution of digital media, where the user views the media via an interactive session with a host server. (usp)

Subsidy

A payment from government to individuals or businesses without any expectations of production. The best way of thinking about a subsidy is as a negative tax. Government extends subsidies for many different reasons. They go to students, unemployed workers, the poor, farmers, wealthy friends of political leaders, businesses trying to fend off foreign competitors, and the list could go on. Subsidies are frequently used to redirect resources from one good to another. Sometimes this is justified on efficiency grounds and other times it's just the result of political power. (amos)

Subsidies

Grants of money made by the government to either a seller or a buyer of a certain product or service, thereby altering the price or cost in a way which affects the output. Governments usually make payments to domestic producers to offset partially their costs of producing and selling certain goods and services. Subsidies are commonly used to support infant firms just entering a new market, to bail out older firms suffering from intensified competition, and to provide support for sectors(such as farming) deemed essential (afsc)

Surplus

A condition in the market in which the quantity supplied is greater than the quantity demanded at the existing price. A surplus occasionally goes by the terms excess supply and buyers' market. A surplus causes a decrease in the equilibrium price. (amos)

Sustainability

Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (afsc)

Sustainable

Actions and products that meet current needs without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet theirs. Sustainability is a broad term and often refers to the desire to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. (re-m)

Sustainable Growth

Growth that does not negatively affect the poor, workers and the environment; economic growth that is just and fair and improves the likelihood of such growth in the future. (afsc)

Tariff

A duty (or tax) applied to goods transported from one country to another, or on imported products. Tariffs raise the prices of imported goods, thus making them less competitive within the market of the importing country. (afsc)

In the context of international trade, a tariff is a tax placed on imported goods. Tariffs are usually intended to protect domestic industries from foreign competition by making the foreign product more expensive, hence the term “protectionism.”

Example: During the first half of the 19th century, American textile manufacturers had a problem. They couldn’t compete with British manufacturers who were better established and better able to produce cloth at a lower price. What to do? The American manufacturers convinced Congress to protect them with a tariff (tax) on imported textiles. The tariff narrowed the price gap between British cloth and American cloth by making British cloth much more expensive than it actually should have been. Of course, this didn’t sit well with consumers in the American South or on the western frontier because they had to pay a higher price for cloth. (bos)

Tax

Any sort of forced or coerced payment to government. The primary reason government collects taxes is to get the revenue needed to finance public goods and pay administrative expenses. However, the more astute leaders of the first estate have recognized over the years that taxes have other effects, including--(1) redirecting resources from one good to another and (2) altering the total amount of production in the economy. As such, taxes have been used to correct market failures, equalize the income distribution, achieve efficiency, stabilize business cycles, and promote economic growth. (amos)

Tax Cuts

A tax cut is a reduction in the rate of tax charged by a government, for example on personal or corporate income. Whether a given tax cut will increase or decrease total tax revenues is much discussed by both economists and politicians. (wiki)

Trade Barrier or Trade Restriction

A restriction, invariably by government, that prevents free trade among countries. The more popular trade restrictions are tariffs, import quotas, and assorted nontariff barriers. An occasional embargo will be even thrown into this mix. The primary use of trade barriers is to restrict imports from entering in country. By restring imports, domestic producers of the restricted goods are protected from competition and are even subsidized through higher prices. Consumers, though, get the short end of this stick with higher prices and a limited choice of goods. In that producers tend to have more political clout than consumers, it's pretty obvious why trade barriers are a "natural" state of affairs. (amos)

Trade Liberalization

The reduction of tariffs, quotas, and other barriers to permit more foreign trade and investment. (afsc)

Trade Secrets

Information that companies keep secret to give them an advantage over their competitors. There is no mechanism to register trade secrets with the U.S. government. (usp)

Trademark

A name or symbol secured by legal registration that identifies a manufacturer's or trader's product or service and distinguishes it from other products and services. Icons, company names, brand names, and packaging can all have trademark protection. Trademark owners have the right to prevent others from using the same, or a confusingly similar mark, but cannot prevent others from making or selling the same goods under a non-confusing mark. Current U.S. law is based on the Lanham Act of 1946. This act also incorporates the trademark obligations of the United States under the Paris Convention. (usinfo)

A property right that protects words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and services from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the goods. Trademarks, unlike patents, can be renewed forever as long as they are being used in commerce. (usp)

Trademark Law Treaty

An international treaty that harmonizes and simplifies the requirements and procedures for filing, registering, and renewing trademarks, and gives service marks the same legal status as trademarks. Adopted at the 1994World Intellectual Property Organization Diplomatic Conference in Geneva, the treaty has entered into force. Currently, the United States Senate has not yet ratified the Trademark Law Treaty. (usinfo)

Transnational Corporation

Corporations that operate in multiple countries and can move their products, personnel, and even factories to the location that would be the most profitable. (afsc)

Transparency

This concept requires negotiations and agreements to be openly arrived at and openly presented so that all can know and understand the process and terms. (afsc)

Trade Restriction

(see Trade Barrier)

TRIPS Agreement

International rules governing the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS),formulated at the December 1993 Uruguay Round of GATT. All GATT member-countries agreed to rewrite their national laws to conform to internationally agreed norms for protecting patents, trademarks, copyrights, industrial designs, and trade secrets. The TRIPS agreement also extended protection to such technological areas as pharmaceutical products and computer software, which were previously unprotected in many countries. The general timetable for implementing the TRIPS agreement, which entered into force on July 1, 1995, is one year for industrialized countries; five years for developing countries and countries shifting from centrally planned economies; and 10 years for least-developed countries. (usinfo)

Washington Consensus

Refers to economic policies being put forth by the US Administration and Congress as well as the Washington DC-based International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Some of the elements of this Consensus are trade liberalization, privatization, deregulation, etc. that are often applied to all countries and all situations. (See also Neoliberalism and globalization) (afsc)

WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)

A specialized Geneva-based agency of the United Nations, created in1967 that promotes international cooperation in intellectual property protection. WIPO administers various "Unions," including the Paris Union and the Berne Union, and other treaty organizations founded on multilateral treaties. The organizational so creates model laws for adoption by developing nations. More than 160 countries are WIPO members. (usinfo)

1996 WIPO Diplomatic Conference

The December 1996,18-day World Intellectual Property Organization summit held in Geneva, whose goal was to revise the Berne Convention. Conference delegates drafted two treaties -- the WIPO Copyright Treaty, which covers literary and artistic works including films and computer software, and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, which covers recorded music. Each treaty, if ratified and implemented by the individual member countries, will grant copyright owners protection for distributing their work in digital form. The Performances and Phonograms Treaty is the first global agreement to protect the rights of recording artists and producers against digital piracy of their works. (usinfo)

World Bank

Officially called the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, this bank was established in 1944 to provide loans for the reconstruction of Europe. In the 1970s the World Banks' focus shifted to assist in the reconstruction and development of its poor members by facilitating capital investment, making loans, and promoting foreign investment. The Bank has historically focused on large infrastructure and other development projects. Like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank has a set of strict requirements for economic policy reform before making grants or loans. (afsc)

World Trade Organization (WTO)

The World Trade Organization, established in 1995 as the successor to the 1948 General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, administers trade agreements, provides a forum for trade negotiations, and monitors national trade policies for the 147 member countries. The overall aim of the WTO is to reach a single framework of rules for trade and "trade-related" activities. (afsc)

The World Trade Organization is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business. (wto)