Unit 5 Vocab

Front 1

Balance of Trade

Back 1

the ratio of what is paid for imports for what is earned from exports.

Front 2

collective bargaining

Back 2

negotiations between representatives of labor unions and management to determine acceptable working conditions

Front 3

Containment Doctrine

Back 3

a foreign policy strategy for the US to isolate Communism

Front 4

debt

Back 4

all the money borrowed by the federal government over the years and still outstanding

Front 5

deficit

Back 5

an excess of federal expenditures over revenue for a year

Front 6

detente

Back 6

a slow transformation from conflict to cooperation in foreign policy

Front 7

entitlement program

Back 7

programs for which expenditures are uncontrollable because Congress has in effect obligated itself to pay X level of benefits to Y number of recipients

Front 8

Environmental Protection Agency

Back 8

an agency of the federal government created in 1970 and charged with administering all the government's environmental legislation

Front 9

European Union

Back 9

an alliance of the major western nation that coordinates monetary, trade, immigration, and labor policies, making its members one big economic unit

Front 10

fiscal policy

Back 10

government using taxation and/or spending to stimulate the economy

Front 11

Health Maintenance Organization

Back 11

organizations contracted by individuals or insurance companies to provide healthcare for a yearly fee

Front 12

Incrementalism

Back 12

best predictor of this year's budget is last year's budget plus a little more

Front 13

Joint Chiefs of Staff

Back 13

commanding officers of the armed forces who advise the president on military policy

Front 14

Keynesian Economics

Back 14

government spending and deficits can help the economy weather its normal ups and downs

Front 15

Laissez-faire

Back 15

free-market, no government intervention

Front 16

medicaid

Back 16

healthcare for the poor

Front 17

medicare

Back 17

healthcare for the elderly

Front 18

monetary policy

Back 18

Federal Reserve changing interest rates and manipulating money supply to fix the economy

Front 19

NAFTA

Back 19

dropped most trade barriers between US, Canada, and Mexico

Front 20

NATO

Back 20

all signatory nations vow to help defend if any is invaded by an excluded nation

Front 21

most favored nation status

Back 21

any trade concessions a country makes with one member apply to all members

Front 22

Mutually Assured Destruction

Back 22

nukes will most like exterminate the human race

Front 23

persona non grata

Back 23

diplomat expelled for any reason

Front 24

progressive tax

Back 24

rich pay higher percentage on income tax

Front 25

proportional tax

Back 25

flat rate on income tax

Front 26

regressive tax

Back 26

poor pay higher percentage of income tax

Front 27

Supply-Side economics

Back 27

increase investment by decreasing taxes on the wealthy

Front 28

tax expenditures

Back 28

revenue loss created by loopholes

Front 29

tax loopholes

Back 29

exclusions allowing people or corporations to lower their tax burden

Front 30

Bush Doctrine

Back 30

US may preemptively attack any nation harboring terrorists

Front 31

Means-Tested program

Back 31

programs that require people to demonstrate need in order to receive government aid

Front 32

strategic defense initiative

Back 32

use of various space weapons to trick the USSR into increasing nuclear spending

Front 33

superfund

Back 33

program to clean up hazardous waste sites, funded by taxing chemicals

Front 34

temporary aid to needy families

Back 34

program allowing families to be paid by the government temporarily while they are in need

Front 35

transfer payment

Back 35

payment made to individuals by the federal government