4/30/2016 sovereign debt crises - Vocabulary List : Vocabulary.

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VOCABULARY LISTS

sovereign debt crises

July 7, 2015 By CACD Inglês (Brazil)

1. debt
the state of owing something, especially money

In due course, Greece would default, or the debt would be

restructured.
— Forbes (Jul 7, 2015)

2. default
fail to pay up
In due course, Greece would default, or the debt would be
restructured.
— Forbes (Jul 7, 2015)

3. contagion
the communication of an attitude among a number of people
Investors sold bonds issued by Italy, Spain and Portugal on fears
that these weaker economies might su er some contagion in
terms of market con dence.
— Washington Post (Jul 6, 2015)

4. bond
a certi cate of debt issued by a government or corporation
Quantitative easing took things a step further, by trying to push
investors to take more risk by making government bonds
unattractive.
— Wall Street Journal (Jul 7, 2015)

5. solvency
the ability to meet maturing obligations as they come due

If the bewildered country votes to accept the measures, it will stay in

the EU and walk a safe path toward solvency.
— MSNBC (Jun 29, 2015)

6. bail out
free on bail

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Those include tougher banking supervision and a pot of money to

bail out troubled governments.
— US News (Jul 4, 2015)

7. write down
reduce the estimated value of something
My proposal begins with government action to write down the
value of all euro-denominated contracts enforced within Greece.
— Forbes (Jul 5, 2015)

8. fallout
any adverse and unwanted secondary e ect
The government will do "whatever is necessary" to protect the UK's
economy against the fallout from Greece's bailout referendum,
George Osborne has told MPs.
— BBC (Jul 6, 2015)

9. backslide
drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards

The Western focus on Iran’s perceived  backsliding has been

persistent.
— Los Angeles Times (Jun 29, 2015)

10. referendum
a legislative act referred for approval to a popular vote

It said the results of the Greek referendum were a victory for

democracy.
— BBC (Jul 7, 2015)

11. exit
move out of or depart from
"If they cannot settle their di erences, the euro zone leaders should
agree on Greece to exit the euro in a planned manner," he said.
— Reuters (Jul 7, 2015)

12. austerity
self-denial, especially refraining from worldly pleasures
What was obvious is that austerity without radical restructuring
would inevitably lead to default, if not now, then somewhere not
too far down the line.
— Forbes (Jul 7, 2015)

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13. underemployed
employed only part-time when one needs full-time employment or not making full use of your skills

“I do not separate the civil-rights issue from the fact that 50 percent
of African-American young people are either unemployed or
underemployed. ”
— Salon (Jul 6, 2015)

14. ballot
a document listing the alternatives that is used in voting

Each fan could cast up to 35 ballots in online voting.

— Washington Times (Jul 5, 2015)

15. departure
the act of leaving
But it's shorter than saying "Greece's departure from the group of
19 countries that share a single currency, the euro."
— US News (Jul 7, 2015)

16. constrain
restrict
Finding the means to get going as an entrepreneur is still a
challenge, however, in an era of constrained bank lending.
— The Guardian (Jun 20, 2015)

17. creditor
a person to whom money is owed by a debtor
Some reports said the Greek government was planning instead to
present new proposals to its creditors Wednesday.
— Los Angeles Times (Jul 7, 2015)

18. devalued
lowered in value

Argentina abandoned its peg and paid its domestic creditors in

devalued pesos.
— Wall Street Journal (Jul 5, 2015)

19. bankruptcy
a legal process for a corporation declared to be insolvent

Like U.S. states, Puerto Rico, a commonwealth, cannot le for

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bankruptcy protection.
— Reuters (Jul 7, 2015)

20. brinkmanship
pushing a dangerous situation to the edge of disaster

Tsipras was vindicated after gambling the future of his 5-month-old

coalition government — and his country — in an all-or-nothing
game of brinkmanship with Greece's creditors.
— US News (Jul 6, 2015)

21. budget de cit

an excess of expenditures over revenues

It is basically the current budget de cit adjusted to strip out the

cyclical nature of the economy.
— BBC (Jul 6, 2015)

22. collapse
break down, literally or metaphorically
Cypriots know better than most the e ects of a nancial crisis - its
biggest banks nearly collapsed in 2013, amid heavy exposure to
Greek debt.
— BBC (Jul 7, 2015)

23. baleful
threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
At the time, Jamaican politicians were able to point to baleful
threats coming from Washington as a reason not to move forward.
— Salon (Jan 27, 2015)

24. debtor
a person who owes a creditor
The message will be that Europe’s other debtor nations can also
use political extortion to block pro-growth reform.
— Wall Street Journal (Jul 5, 2015)

25. outstanding
owed as a debt

The total amount of outstanding student loans is $1.2 trillion.

— Wall Street Journal (Jul 7, 2015)

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26. curtail
terminate or abbreviate before its intended or proper end
These measures have done little to curtail Puerto Rico’s crisis, and
have arguably made it worse.

27. bondholder
a holder of bonds issued by a government or corporation
“Every time Chapter 9 is used, bondholders get destroyed,” said
one creditor source.
— Reuters (Jul 3, 2015)

28. hedge fund

a exible investment company for a small number of large investors (usually the minimum investment is
$1 million); can use high-risk techniques (not allowed for mutual funds) such as short-selling and heavy
leveraging
Hedge funds and individual American investors held billions more
in Puerto Rican debt, the rm said.
— Los Angeles Times (Jul 6, 2015)

29. credit rating

an estimate, based on previous dealings, of a person's or an organization's ability to ful ll their nancial
commitments

The credit ratings agency noted however that Hostess's market

share is still below pre-bankruptcy levels.
— Reuters (Jul 7, 2015)

30. sound
in good condition; free from defect, damage, or decay

Diplomats who last week emphasized the urgency of nishing work

by the deadline said the important goal now was producing a
sound deal.
— Los Angeles Times (Jul 7, 2015)

31. tax break

a tax deduction that is granted in order to encourage a particular type of commercial activity
As 2012 neared to a close, those tax breaks were all set to expire.
— Forbes (Jun 30, 2015)

32. reckoning
problem solving that involves numbers or quantities
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And the deal would only postpone Puerto Rico’s inevitable

reckoning.
— New York Times (Jun 28, 2015)

33. relief
the act of reducing something unpleasant
Eventually, there will have to be agreement on some kind of debt
relief as well, otherwise Greece will continue to sink.
— BBC (Jul 7, 2015)

34. squeeze
obtain by coercion or intimidation
But for nonessential goods, in particular luxury items, Greek
importers are starting to feel the squeeze.
— Wall Street Journal (Jul 4, 2015)

35. depression
a long-term economic state with unemployment and low prices

The “Grexit” option would also likely lead to a prolonged

depression in Greece and a potential humanitarian disaster.
— Time (Jul 5, 2015)

36. pay o
eliminate by paying o (debts)

Without new loans, Greece won’t be able to pay o its old loans.
— Time (Jul 2, 2015)

37. loan
the temporary provision of money (usually at interest)
President Barack Obama on Tuesday and briefed him on Greece's
request for a rescue loan from its euro zone partners.
— Reuters (Jul 7, 2015)

38. rescue
free from harm or evil
They expect to hear new Greek proposals for rescue that will then
be discussed by government leaders at a summit later in the day.
— Reuters (Jul 7, 2015)

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