FT Lexicon: top 10 of 2012

The top 10 most viewed terms on Financial Times Lexicon of 2012. Go to FT Lexicon to see the full definitions.

1. mutual fund

An open-ended investment fund that gathers capital from a number of investors to create a pool of money that is then re-invested into stocks, bonds and other assets…..

2. recession

A marked slowdown in economic activity, more strictly defined (in many countries) as at least two consecutive quarters of declining GDP…..

3. austerity measure

Official actions taken by the government, during a period of adverse economic conditions, to reduce its budget deficit using a combination of spending cuts or tax rises…..

4. M0, M1, M2, M3, M4

Different measures of money supply…..

5. quantitative easing

A way of affecting the price of money when interest rates are close to zero…..

6. business sustainability

Often defined as managing the triple bottom line - a process by which companies manage their financial, social and environmental risks, obligations and opportunities…..

7. structural deficit

A budget deficit that results from a fundamental imbalance in government receipts and expenditures, as opposed to one based on one-off or short-term factors…..

8. general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR)

A set of broad and general principles-based rules enacted in the tax code aimed at counteracting avoidance of tax…..

9. Basel III

Global banking regulators sealed a deal, in September of 2010, to effectively triple the size of the capital reserves that the world’s banks must hold against losses, in one of the most important reforms to emerge from the financial crisis…..

10. fiscal cliff

The simultaneous expiry of tax breaks with the introduction of tax increases and spending cuts at the end of 2012, the cumulation of which could push the US back into recession…..