| Monopsony |
The inverse of a monopoly in that there is only one buyer in a market rather than one seller. A monopoly will always seek to create a monopsony in order to control the supply of raw materials to drive down cost of manufacturing.
|
| MOU |
Memorandum of Understanding - used in treaties and international agreements
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| NAFTA |
North American Free Trade Agreement
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| OAS |
Organization of American States - a body with representation
from all countries in the Americas. It is now charged with
27 non-trade issues in the Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA) such as poverty, drug control, and democracy.
|
| OECD |
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - an
elite group of highly industrialized nations.
|
| Oligopoly |
A market that is dominated by a small number of sellers who would tend to collude in order to raise selling prices. When a formal agreement exists to control prices, it is known as a cartel.
|
| Oligopsony |
Represents a market where there are a only a small number of buyers for a product or service. An example is the fast-food market (McDonalds, Burger King, etc) exerting control over beef producers to control meat prices.
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| PNAC |
Project for the New American Century
|
| Privatization |
Transferring property or business functions from public ownership/operation to private hands. The opposite of nationaliziation. 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.
|
| Robber barons |
Businessmen of the 19th century who engaged in unscrupulous business practices (in industry and in the stock market) to amass huge personal fortunes. Historians include in this list individuals like Andrew Carnegie (steel), Jay Gould (finance, railroads), J.P. Morgan (banking), John D. Rockefeller (Oil ) and Cornelius Vanderbilt (railroads, shipping).
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| SAP |
Structural Adjustment Program. A process imposed on poor countries in which they must privatize
services, export more, and reduce the government's role in
the economy in order to access International Monetary Fund/World
Bank loans. Structural adjustment programs have brought devastation
to vulnerable citizens of poor countries as they lose more
of their few protections and services.
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| 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.
|
| Structural Adjustment |
A process imposed on poor countries in which they must privatize
services, export more, and reduce the government's role in
the economy in order to access International Monetary Fund/World
Bank loans. Structural adjustment programs have brought devastation
to vulnerable citizens of poor countries as they lose more
of their few protections and services.
|
| Sustainability |
A socialist/Marxist expansion of the concept of transfer of wealth between classes, except that it concerns current verses future generations.
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| 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.
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