| A | B |
|---|
| bear market: | a prolonged period of time during which prices of stocks drop. |
| boondoggles: | make-work projects that produce little of true value. |
| Brain Trust: | President Franklin Roosevelt's economic advisors who proposed solutions to the Depression's problems. |
| bull market: | a prolonged period of time during which stock prices rise. |
| business cycle: | the tendency of the economy (as observed over the past decades) to expand into a boom economy, then contract into a recession or depression, and then begin to expand once again. |
| collective bargaining: | the process whereby a union, which represents its members, bargains with company management for changes in wages and working conditions. |
| commerce clause: | the clause in the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8) which grants Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. |
| deficit spending: | the practice of spending more money than the government takes in. |
| deflation: | a rise in the value of money with a decrease in prices. |
| demagogue: | a person who by appealing to people's emotion and prejudice seeks to become their leader. |
| dependent children, as per Social Security Act: | children who are in need of assistance due to the death, incapacity, or unemployment of a parent. |
| economic depression: | a period of marked decline in business activity with a sharp increase in unemployment. |
| free-market economy: | an economy with limited or no regulation by the government. |
| interstate: | among or between states. |
| intrastate: | within a state. |
| Keynesian economics: | an economic theory that government should stimulate the economy (with government spending) during times of economic slowdown. |
| margin, buying on: | the practice of buying stock with a down-payment and borrowing the rest. |
| mixed economy: | an economy where privately-owned businesses produce many goods and services, but where the government also regulates private businesses and provides some essential goods and services. |
| pragmatist: | one who seeks practical solutions to problems. |
| recession: | a time of slow growth of the economy with moderate increases in unemployment. |
| redistribution of wealth: | the practice of lessening the gap between the rich and poor with programs which take money from wealthier citizens and use that to benefit those in need. |
| regulation, government: | the practice of placing government controls or guidelines on private business activities. |
| relief: | the granting of public money, food, or other necessities to those in need -- similar to welfare assistance. |
| subsidize: | to give or contribute money (especially by the government) to a group or business because its work is considered important. |
| wage-price spiral: | the repeating cycle of increases in wages leading to increases in prices which in turn lead to demands for more increases in wages which leads to even higher prices, and so on. |
| wage-price spiral: | the repeating cycle of increases in wages leading to increases in prices which in turn lead to demands for more increases in wages which leads to even higher prices, and so on. |
