Transactions in the foreign exchange markets involving the purchase of the currency of one nation with that of another. Also called foreign exchange transactions.

A bank regulation setting specific levels and types of capital to be held in reserve by the bank rather than invested or loaned to others.

A bureau of the Treasury Department, established in August 1989. The OTS has the authority to charter federal thrift institutions and serve as the primary regulator of federal and state-chartered thrifts.

Cash on hand at a depository institution to meet day-to-day business needs, such as cashing checks for customers. Can be used to satisfy the institution’s reserve requirement.

Otherwise known as “forbearance lending,” the term refers to the practice, prevalent in Japan in the early 1990s, of banks continuing to lend to otherwise insolvent firms (“zombies”).

AAA The highest credit rating given by debt agencies such as Standard & Poors and Moody's. An AAA rating allows a corporation or government to borrow at low interest rates.

A country has an absolute advantage if its output per unit of input of all goods and services produced is higher than that of another country. 

A definition of poverty that is set at an estimate of a family's minimum consumption needs. 

An index that tracks the performance of a basket of credit default swaps based on 20 bonds that consist of U.S. subprime home mortgages. Credit default swaps are like insurance contracts that allow buyers and sellers to trade risk. ABX contracts allow traders and investors to take positions on subprime securities without actually holding them. A de [..]

Any total (e.g., the gross national product; the sum of monthly sales).