Unit 5 Comparitive Gov

Economic Globalization

The increasing integration and interdependence of national economies around the world

International Monetary Fund

an international organization that acts as a lender of last resort, providing loans to troubled nations, and also works to promote trade through financial cooperation

World Bank

A specialized agency of the United Nations that makes loans to countries for economic development, trade promotion, and debt consolidation. Its formal name is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

World Trade Organization

a permanent global institution to promote international trade and to settle international trade disputes

Multinational Corporations

An organization that manufactures and markets products in many different countries and has multinational stock ownership and multinational management

Neoliberalism

Reforms that focus on the free market with few restrictions on business and property rights.

Special Economic Zones (C)

specific area within China in which tax incentives and less stringent environmental regulations are implemented to attract foreign business and investment

Privatization

To change from government or public ownership or control to private ownership or control.

PEMEX (M)

Mexican Petroleum; a government agency that runs the oil industry in Mexico

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (N)

oil corporation through which the federal government of Nigeria regulates and participates in the country's petroleum industry

Re-nationalization (R)

the process of bringing assets and/or industries back into government ownership after they had previously been privatized.

Foreign Direct Investment

Investment made by a foreign company in the economy of another country.

Environmental Degradation

Depletion or destruction of a potentially renewable resource such as soil, grassland, forest, or wildlife that is used faster than it is naturally replenished. If such use continues, the resource becomes nonrenewable (on a human time scale) or nonexistent (extinct).

United Nations

An international organization formed after WWII to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.

Economic Liberalization

the process of limiting the power of the state over private property and market forces

Trade Deficit

the amount by which the cost of a country's imports exceeds the value of its exports.

Urban Sprawl

The process of urban areas expanding outwards, usually in the form of suburbs, and developing over fertile agricultural land.

Inflation

a general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money

structural adjustment programs

Economic policies imposed on less developed countries by international agencies to create conditions encouraging international trade, such as raising taxes, reducing government spending, controlling inflation, selling publicly owned utilities to private corporations, and charging citizens more for services

supranational organizations

A venture involving three or more nation-states involving formal political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives. The European Union is one

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

The West African regional organization, includes 15 member countries from Cape Verde in the west to Nigeria and Niger in the east.

European Union (EU)

the world's largest common market, composed of 28 European nations

austerity measures

When a government severely cuts spending to try and get its finances under control

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Agreement that created a free-trade area among the United States, Canada, and Mexico

maquiladora zones (M)

areas of Mexico's manufacturing industry mostly located in northern Mexico; factories established to
assemble parts imported from the United States for assembly in Mexico made more possible due to NAFTA. Contributed to
greater economic development in the north than in the south, as well as other regional disparities.

rentier states

States that derive a significant portion of their revenues from rent (such as renting land to oil companies)

resource curse

the difficulties faced by resource-rich developing countries, including dependence on exporting one or a few commodities whose prices fluctuate, as well as potentials for corruption and inequality

Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI)

an economic system that attempts to strengthen a country's industrial power by restricting foreign imports.