Capitalism: An economic system in which the means of production are privately owned and controlled and which is characterized by competition and the profit motive.

Capital market: The market in which corporate equity and longer-term debt securities (those maturing in more than one year) are issued and traded.

Central bank: A country's principal monetary authority, responsible for such key functions as issuing currency and regulating the supply of credit in the economy.

Commercial bank: A bank that offers a broad range of deposit accounts, including checking, savings, and time deposits, and extends loans to individuals and businesses -- in contrast to investment banking firms such as brokerage firms, which generally are involved in arranging for the sale of corporate or municipal securities.

Common market: A group of nations that have eliminated tariffs and sometimes other barriers that impede trade with each other while maintaining a common external tariff on goods imported from outside the union.

Common stock: A share in the ownership of a corporation.

Consumer price index: A measure of the U.S. cost of living as tabulated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics based on the actual retail prices of a variety of consumer goods and services at a given time and compared to a base period that is changed from time to time.

Consumption tax: A tax on expenditures, rather than on earnings.

Deficiency payment: A government payment to compensate farmers for all or part of the difference between producer prices actually paid for a specific commodity and higher guaranteed target prices.

Demand: The total quantity of goods and services consumers are willing and able to buy at all possible prices during some time period.

Depression: A severe decline in general economic activity in terms of magnitude and/or length.

Deposit insurance: U.S. government backing of bank deposits up to a certain amount -- currently, $100,000.

Deregulation: Lifting of government controls over an industry.

Discount rate: The interest rate paid by commercial banks to borrow funds from Federal Reserve Banks.

Dividend: Money earned on stock holdings; usually, it represents a share of profits paid in proportion to the share of ownership.

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